"I am very sorry that this is happening. It's embarrassing, really, embarrassing." With these words, the president of the Second Section of the Provincial Court of Las Palmas, Pilar Parejo, asked for the courtroom to be cleared for the second time during the second and final day of the Yate case trial. The reason for her surprise and embarrassment was the impossibility of establishing communication with the Arrecife Courts for three experts to testify by videoconference. "The problem is there," explained the official from the courts of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where the hearing was being held, after making several unsuccessful attempts.
This "anecdote", which caused astonishment in the Courtroom and among the journalists from the capital of Gran Canaria covering the trial, is the daily bread in the Arrecife Courts. And also the latest graphic example of the difficulties that have had to be faced in the investigation of this case. Another, even more relevant due to the consequences it has had, was the absence of a scanner in the Investigating Court. This was used to justify the case being paralyzed for two years, when it was already ready to go to trial, and has meant further reducing the penalties that will finally be imposed on the confessed criminals, by also applying "undue delays" as a mitigating factor (in addition to the alleged "collaboration with Justice").
With these materials, with lamentable deficiencies in material resources and also in human resources, the judges and prosecutors who have truly strived to investigate the main corruption cases in Lanzarote have had to deal. And also with the gaps left by their predecessors, who did not investigate in time, when rivers of briefcases were flowing in the south (and in other parts of the island).
A glaring example is the Marina Rubicón marina, which was reported in its day, and which had open criminal proceedings that came to nothing, as the Prosecutor's Office itself requested that they be archived in 2001. And the same fate befell another criminal case falsely closed in 2004. Now, thanks to the work of those who arrived later, when investigations truly began from 2006 onwards, it has been confirmed that the former mayor of Yaiza, José Francisco Reyes, granted that license in exchange for bribes, as he himself has confessed. And also that the former secretary, Vicente Bartolomé Fuentes, was fully aware of its illegality when he issued a favorable report. And the same is true of the Playa Blanca Partial Plan and the 19 hotels and apartment complexes that were built illegally.
Unfortunately, the Yate case leaves a bittersweet feeling, as it is evident that not all the culprits are going to pay –the bribed will be convicted, but not the one who bribed– and also that the penalties do not repair the damage caused, especially the economic ones. But despite everything, the final resolution of this trial represents a giant step forward compared to the situation that has been experienced in the last two decades. And the difficulties, the obstacles, the lack of resources and the previous dark stages in the Courts, make the work of all those who have contributed to making Justice, at least in part, even more meritorious.
Because the "gaps" that may have remained in this case are mainly attributable to what was not done at the time, and to the difficulty of determining a decade later who, when and for what license each bribe was given to José Francisco Reyes. And it is that the corruption was so enormous, the volume of illegalities was so absurd, that it has ended up playing in its favor, due to the impossibility of clarifying all the necessary extremes to achieve a conviction for all those involved. Extremes, among others, such as the when, which is what could mean that many crimes have already prescribed. And to this is added the Penal Code, which if today it is still extremely lenient with cases of corruption, the one that was in force then (which is the one that has to be applied) was even more so. And that has complicated classifying what today would be textbook crimes.
Therefore, beyond the interpretations that each one can make of the result of a late and complex investigation, one cannot lose sight of what has been achieved: that the man who challenged the entire island with a "take me to Anti-Corruption, do it", and who assured that what there was was a "persecution" against him and against the "progress" of Playa Blanca, has now confessed that he granted licenses "like churros" - as the prosecutor defined it during the trial - in exchange for bribes.
The worst part of the case, what has made this path even more complicated for those who have been fighting for legality for years, is that Reyes was not the only one who dedicated himself to saying nonsense. Certain politicians, the businessmen involved themselves and several media outlets have done so, in a campaign in which they tried to portray as the "bad guys" those who were trying to uncover the truth of what was happening. And the judges, prosecutors, complainants, officials, technicians, lawyers for the prosecution and even citizens who dared to stand up to corruption have had to live with this campaign of attacks for years.
Even, the media outlets of Juan Francisco Rosa continue to have the shamelessness to call anyone who criticizes, questions or denounces that wild urbanism of bribes and checkbooks a "green mafia" to this day. And no matter how pathetic and even comical it may be now to see how they continue to flounder, perhaps someone should explain to Mr. Rosa, and to his scribes and preachers, that "mafia" is paying bribes to a politician to allow you to break the law. To grant you illegal licenses and to, in addition, look the other way when you build two, three and even ten times more than what that illegal license allows. Mafia is creating a network of companies to hide black money. Mafia is orchestrating a campaign against those who have stood up to defend the law and the equality of all citizens before it.
And green -since we are explaining things to the magnanimous businessman who made an empire with illegal licenses and European subsidies-, were the areas that he also occupied in Playa Blanca, and that belonged to the residents of the municipality. Areas that should be a lung of the town, with parks and public facilities, and that today are occupied with private facilities, such as Kikoland.
No matter how hard they try, here we are not talking about environmentalism versus "development". Regardless of each one's convictions regarding the territory, what we are talking about is that some gentlemen became millionaires because they were allowed to build illegally, because they were allowed to occupy public land, because they did not even pay the corresponding taxes and because on top of that they even received subsidies for those illegal constructions.
Now, it would be good if those who for years have fueled the "paper theory" would explain to us where that "progress" is. Where are the quality jobs, where are the public services that this island should have, where are the decent hospitals, the health centers, the nurseries, the schools... Where is the money from the town halls that have suffered decades of corruption, and that were on the verge of bankruptcy. And where is the supposed wealth that was going to be created at the expense of wild checkbook urbanism. Because it is enough to take a look at the current society to see that only four have become rich, at the expense of the rest. And that is what must not be lost sight of to understand the true drama and the harsh reality of what corruption means in all its facets.
Because the worst thing is that the rancid caciquismo of those who bought illegal licenses with bribes, leads them to continue trying to sell us that they are the saviors of the island and that we eat thanks to them, when the reality is that what they have done is try to eat the island. Unfortunately, they have succeeded with a part of it. With the rest, it is in the hands of society to prevent them from continuing to do so. That is the main lesson that the Yate case should leave us.
