De León, on irregularities in hiring parties: "Some parties want to paralyze Arrecife"

The mayor of Arrecife, Yonathan de León, defended himself this Tuesday in statements to the media regarding the lawsuit filed by the Provincial Prosecutor's Office of Las Palmas against the mayor and also against the deputy mayor and councilor for Fiestas, Echedey Eugenio, for alleged irregularities in the contracting of the first edition of Navilan, the first Christmas Fair of Arrecife, held between 2023 and 2024, the Arrecife Carnival of 2024, and the April Fair of 2024.

The mayor said that "I will not cease in the attempt to transform the city, much to the dismay of political complaints," stating that "we have already shown that one of the lawyers from the Socialist Party was behind this complaint."

Furthermore, he assured that "some political parties want to paralyze the Administration, paralyze Arrecife and want to return to what we had before, but I tell you no, we have projects, enthusiasm, and ideas to continue working for this city."

Thus, he pointed out that from the Arrecife City Council they are collaborating with Justice and "we have made all the documentation available." For his part, he indicated that when the judge calls them to testify, they will do so "with total transparency."

"We already have precedents in this city council, with mayors who have been in office for twelve and fifteen years and have been acquitted, and councilors who have been in the same situation, as well as Senator Pedro San Ginés, who was investigated for fifteen years and was acquitted," he highlighted.

"There are complaints that are political and try to cause harm, but I tell you that they will not paralyze the management we are carrying out in this City Council," he concluded.

"A repeated way of acting"

In a document addressed to the Court, the Public Ministry has assured that "there are rational indications" that the irregularities detected in the contracting of events in Arrecife would not be "isolated episodes" but "a repeated way of acting". At the same time, it highlights that criminal offenses against Public Administration could have been committed.

Among them, it considers the alleged commission of a crime of administrative prevarication, another of fraud against the Administration, a crime of embezzlement of public funds, and the possibility of extending it to other crimes that may be detected during the judicial investigation.