"When a mayor has to resolve issues as delicate as urban planning, he cannot argue that he does not understand what he has to decide every day. And keep in mind that Mr. Reyes Rodríguez has been the mayor of Yaiza for at least ten years, during which the urban development of this municipality and the entire island in general has been enormous, it being inconceivable that a mayor who has been in charge of the City Council for so long is unaware of matters as common and abundant as the granting of licenses of all types and kinds."
This is one of the excerpts from the sentence that condemns José Francisco Reyes to ten years of disqualification and the payment of a fine of more than 25,000 euros for the commission of an urban planning prevarication crime, by granting a license to transform a house into a restaurant on rustic land.
As reflected by the judge in the sentence, prevarication implies the existence of "an unfair administrative resolution, whose illegality is evident, patent, flagrant and clamorous", in addition to "an arbitrary exercise of power". And in the case that has led to the conviction of the former mayor, she considers it proven that he did not observe even "the most elementary procedural rules" when granting that license, such as requesting territorial qualification from the Cabildo.
In addition, the judge understands that José Francisco Reyes' statement was "vague, imprecise and inconclusive", as well as little or not "credible" in some of his statements.
"I didn't read it"
In his statement, as stated in the sentence itself, Reyes "claimed either not to remember anything, or that, really, throughout his term as mayor of the municipality of Yaiza, from 1994 to 2004-2005, he does not know what he has signed because he did not read it". This is how he tried to justify why he gave a license on rustic land without requesting territorial qualification from the Cabildo and without taking into account Yaiza's own General Plan, which classified it as a landscape reserve.
However, the judge considers it proven that he was amply warned that what he was doing was illegal. "It is not just that a resolution from the president of the Cabildo says in August 2004 that the land is rustic with territorial protection, it is that the mayor himself consults his technicians and they respond in the same sense," the sentence states. Thus, she concludes that "it is obvious that the mayor made the consultation and therefore, it is not credible that he failed to heed the report sent by the technician".
The judge considers his testimony "surprising" and believes "that it is unacceptable for a former mayor to hide behind the fact that he did not read what he signed and that the writings were prepared by his technicians and were routine". In addition, she emphasizes that the fact that "he did not read the reports he received from the Cabildo, and even worse those made by his technicians, when it is the main thing he has to do in the exercise of the functions of his position, when as he himself acknowledges he has no higher education and is unaware of everything related to urban planning", reflects a clear "negligence" and "very little responsibility, if any, in his management as mayor".
Therefore, in the sentence she imposes the highest penalty provided for this type of crime in terms of political disqualification and the fine, although she exempts him from the prison sentence "given that the accused has no criminal record" and "imprisonment should be reserved for the most serious cases, of which there are".
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[José Francisco Reyes, sentenced to ten years of disqualification for an urban planning prevarication crime->25870]
[Full text of the sentence->25917]