The trips of María Isabel Deniz and her family have become one of the axes of the "Unión" case, which maintains that several companies paid for the vacations of the former mayor and other public officials and civil servants, including the then secretary of Arrecife, Felipe Fernández Camero, to destinations such as Tanzania and Morocco. However, when going to different travel agencies in search of evidence, the UCO agents not only found invoices for private trips paid for by Urbaser and Fomento Construcciones y Contratas, but also by the Arrecife City Council itself.
In one of the UCO reports, the information provided by one of the travel agencies is collected, which in 2004 alone charged up to three invoices from the Arrecife City Council, for trips made by María Isabel Déniz and her relatives.
The first of them, dated June 18, includes a flight to Madrid in the name of María Isabel Déniz, and another in the name of her daughter, as well as one night's accommodation in the luxurious Reina Victoria hotel. In total, the invoice paid with public money amounted to 980.77 euros, for a trip between June 24 and 25.
Only four days later, María Isabel Déniz's daughter traveled to Madrid again, although this time she didn't even fly with the then mayor. On that occasion she traveled to the capital with her father, although the invoice, worth 717.87 euros, was also charged to the Arrecife City Council. Isabel Déniz's husband and daughter flew on June 19 and returned the next day, and also stayed at the Reina Victoria hotel.
Luxury and privileged views
On the website of this establishment, the company defines it as a "luxury hotel", "strategically located in the center of the city, with easy access to the main points of interest such as the Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza and Reina Sofía Museums, the Retiro Park, the Congress, Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, the Royal Palace and the commercial and business area", and also highlights its terrace "The Roof", which it describes as "one of the 10 best in Spain", and has privileged views.
In addition, on those dates the City Council paid for a third trip for relatives of the mayor, in this case her sister, Carolina Déniz. The invoice, for the amount of 621.77 euros, corresponds to two plane tickets, one in the name of María Isabel Déniz and the other in the name of her sister. Both flew together to Barcelona on May 7, 2004.
Carolina Déniz, who is a judge and has also been Deputy Minister of Justice of the Government of the Canary Islands, was already called to testify as a witness in the "Unión" case, for her participation in another trip together with the former mayor and several members of her family. In that case, they went to Morocco and the invoice was paid by Fomento Construcciones y Contratas, in what the investigation maintains could have been an alleged bribe to María Isabel Déniz in exchange for the awarding of works. Other participants in that trip, such as the former mayor's husband, were also called to testify as witnesses.
From Tanzania to Cuba in three months
In addition to this trip to Morocco in 2005, other vacations of María Isabel Déniz are also being investigated in the case. According to the investigation, the then mayor traveled to Tanzania from January 17 to 27, 2004 together with Felipe Fernández Camero and their partners, on a trip allegedly paid for by Urbaser.
In the agendas seized from the former manager of the company in Lanzarote, Jacinto Álvarez, there are several annotations of the alleged demands made by both María Isabel Déniz and Felipe Fernández Camero for him to pay for that trip. In one of those notes, Jacinto Álvarez assured that he had already given them 14,000 euros "for a trip he was going to make to Kenya" (a country bordering Tanzania), as well as tickets to Madrid. Regarding those connecting flights with the capital, the UCO located the invoices in a travel agency, and they were paid by Urbaser.
Less than three months after that trip to Tanzania, on April 3, 2004 there is another trip by María Isabel Déniz, in this case to Cuba, and accompanied again by her husband and children, as well as by Felipe Fernández Camero and his wife. The UCO located a joint invoice for the trip, in the name of the former mayor, "the method of payment being unknown, as no debits similar to the total of the invoice appear in the accounts related to María Isabel Déniz".
Therefore, the agents believe that the trip could have been paid for with black money, from an alleged bribe. On those dates, Jacinto Álvarez also made annotations in his peculiar agenda, in which he pointed to a possible company that could have paid for that trip.