The deputy mayor and councilor for Finance of the Arrecife City Council, Echedey Eugenio, has ordered the early redemption and total cancellation of the 27 million euro loan taken out with BBVA on December 16, 2021, to finance the payment of the expropriation of the Ginory plot.
With this last operation, the City Council pays the 7,440,421.15 euros that remained pending —6,765,421.15 euros for early redemption plus the last capital installment of 675,000 euros, due on December 31, 2026— and considers the credit definitively extinguished. The resolution, signed by Eugenio, puts an end to a financial operation that has conditioned municipal accounts for years.
The deputy mayor has highlighted that this means "the definitive closure of a historic problem that for years has weighed down Arrecife's finances and has conditioned the City Council's ability to invest in its city."
Likewise, the councilor has stressed that "we inherited a debt of 27 million euros contracted to pay for the Ginory plot and we have worked responsibly to pay it back ahead of time. Today we can say that the loan is fully canceled. We have not passed it on to the next legislature nor have we left it for future generations: we have resolved it."
The Ginory plot conflict dates back to 2006, when the Provincial Board of Forced Expropriation set an initial fair price of 31 million euros, subsequently challenged by the City Council. In 2010, the fair price was set at 20 million euros and, as it was not appealed, the debt became final.
In 2011, the former owners took the matter to court as the payment had not been included in the municipal budgets. The Court ruled in favor of the owners and, in 2016, ordered the City Council to pay the 20 million plus interest accrued since March of that year.
From the City Council, they recall that "the 27 million euro credit operation was proposed and began to be processed in 2021, during the government presided over by Astrid Pérez, of the Partido Popular, with Cristina Duque, of the PSOE, at the head of the Department of Finance. That loan, formalized in December of that year, established a repayment schedule that extended until 2033."
This is how the debt was canceled
During the current term, the City Council has progressively reduced the loan:
2023: 55,350 euros in interest and 702,675 euros in principal and interest since the last quarter.
2024: 2,803,081.26 euros in principal and interest.
2025: 2,792,711.26 euros in principal and interest.
2026: 2,075,562.69 euros in principal and interest, in addition to an early partial repayment of 11,459,578.85 euros.
November 2026: early repayment and full cancellation of the remaining 7,440,421.15 euros.
In total, Arrecife has repaid the 27 million euros of the loan before its original maturity, also avoiding the interest that would have been generated until 2033. The cancellation is financed with treasury surpluses and is part of the debt reduction policy promoted by the government team, which has made it possible to clean up municipal accounts without sacrificing investment and public services.
"This cancellation shows that it is possible to govern with rigor, pay off debts incurred, and at the same time, recover room to invest in neighborhoods, services, and the real needs of the people of Arrecife," added the Councilor for Finance.
"Much has been written about Ginory and accusations have been thrown from left to right. But, while the debate continued, Arrecife kept paying. From the Finance Department, we have taken responsibility for ending that burden and today we complete its cancellation. We are closing a dark era of municipal management, both for the situation that led to the conviction and for the subsequent indebtedness, and we are allowing the city to turn the page," points out Eugenio.
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