The former mayor of Teguise, Juan Pedro Hernández, has admitted this Tuesday that he committed malfeasance by authorizing four illegal accommodation complexes and granting extensions to the licenses of two of them between 1999 and 2001. Hernández has thus avoided the trial and has accepted the sentence requested by the Prosecutor's Office, of 9 years of disqualification for a continued crime of urban planning malfeasance. In addition, he must pay a fine of 5,400 euros and the costs of the trial.
Hernández has thus become the first convicted in the Yate case, which investigated the massive granting of illegal licenses in Costa Teguise and Playa Blanca. The events were denounced a decade ago by the former Minister of Territorial Policy and general secretary of the PSOE in Lanzarote, Carlos Espino, who appeared in the case as a popular accusation. Now, we are waiting for the trial for the licenses granted by the former mayor of Yaiza, José Francisco Reyes, to be held.
In that case, the Prosecutor's Office is asking for 25 years in prison for Reyes, adding other crimes such as money laundering and bribery. In addition, several Yaiza technicians, as well as his wife and three of his children, will be in the dock with Reyes. The trial for another separate piece of the case, for alleged embezzlement of funds in payments to the lawyer Felipe Fernández Camero, is also pending.
Second conviction for Hernández
The trial against Juan Pedro Hernández was to be held this Tuesday and Wednesday before the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands, which took over the instruction of this case when Juan Pedro Hernández became a member of parliament, becoming a regional deputy in the last legislature. However, before the trial began, the former mayor showed his agreement with the indictment presented by prosecutor Vicente Garrido.
The popular accusation, which requested 4 years in prison and 20 years of disqualification for the former mayor, has also accepted the agreement, to which a fine of 5,400 euros and the payment of court costs have also been added. In addition, it will be expressly clarified that the disqualification will not only be for the position of mayor, which was from which he committed the continued crime of urban planning malfeasance, but also for any other regional or state position.
This is intended to avoid what happened with the first disqualification sentence that Juan Pedro Hernández faced, which only affected the municipal sphere and did not prevent him from continuing as a regional parliamentarian. Currently, it should be noted that Hernández does not hold public office, as he was not on any list in the last elections.
