"This government rejects and condemns the actions of companies that bribed the mayor of Yaiza or any other place, in Lanzarote or the world." This is how the president of the Cabildo, Pedro San Ginés, expressed his support for one of the points of the motion that Podemos brought back to the last Plenary Session of the Cabildo, following the Yate case ruling. However, although the condemnation of "the companies that bribed the former mayor of Yaiza" prospered, the government group rejected rescinding the sponsorship contracts it maintains with the Marina Rubicón marina and the Princesa Yaiza hotel.
The Provincial Court's ruling considers it proven that the owners of the port gave a bribe to José Francisco Reyes, in the form of a gift, in exchange for the illegal license of Marina Rubicón and three other hotels owned by him. However, the government group argued that the ruling is not yet final, in order to keep the contracts of these companies with the Foreign Promotion Society in force.
"In the Yate case, 11 people were charged, of which nine confessed their crimes and wrote statements of conformity, so they are obviously not going to appeal, and two were acquitted, so I understand that they are not eager to be convicted and go to appeal," stressed the spokesman for Podemos, Carlos Meca, pointing out that "they know that no one is going to appeal it" and that therefore the ruling will become final.
In fact, it was Reyes himself who confessed to having received those bribes before the trial. It was then that Podemos brought a motion to the Plenary for the first time asking the institution to disassociate itself from Marina Rubicón and Princesa Yaiza, and then the response was that there was still no ruling. And now that there is a ruling, what the government group argues is that it is not yet final.
"We are talking about those who are behind you"
"First the excuse is that it is not annulled (the license), now it is annulled but it is not final," Meca questioned, referring to the part of the ruling that also annuls that illegal permit granted to the Marina Rubicón port. In this sense, the spokesman for Podemos pointed out that "that attitude was to be expected" from San Ginés and Coalición Canaria. "We are talking about those who are behind you," the councilor reproached, referring to Juan Francisco Rosa.
The motion of Podemos was fully supported by other formations such as Somos Lanzarote and Ciudadanos. "In 2016, the SPEL gave the Princesa Yaiza hotel almost 70,000 euros to hold an event," questioned the spokesman for C's, Benjamín Perdomo. "It is a judicial evidence" that the "SPEL has a relationship with companies whose licenses are annulled," reproached the spokesman for Somos, Tomás López.
However, the rejection of the government group to that point, which was joined by that of the PP and the abstention of Nueva Canarias, prevented it from prospering. "The ruling is not final," said the socialist councilor of Territorial Policy, Marcos Bergaz, who invited Podemos "to raise it again" when it is.
