Trial to be held against the mayor of Ronda and her predecessor in connection with the Soliarsa case

Ronda

The judge refused to dismiss case and has set bail for the six defendants over alleged offences of embezzlement and perverting the course of justice

Irene Quirante

The mayor of Ronda, María de la Paz Fernández (PP), and her predecessor, María Teresa Valdenebro (PSOE), will have to stand trial to answer for ... their alleged involvement in the ‘Soliarsa case’.

Fernández and Valdenebro are accused of a continuing offence of perverting the course of justice, in conjunction with an offence of embezzlement. This has been ordered by the judge at the Ronda magistrates’ court in a ruling to which SUR has had access.

In the same document, the judge also orders that oral proceedings be opened against four others who were involved in the management of Soliarsa, the municipal cleaning company.

The judge has refused to dismiss the case against Fernández, arguing that “following the preliminary investigation, there are individuals implicated in acts that could constitute a criminal offence”.

This ruling is final and not subject to appeal.

Sources close to the mayor said that the events took place when she was not a councillor and that, upon taking office, she commissioned an audit to sort out the situation.

Furthermore, the court order has set bail amounts to cover any potential civil liabilities arising from the proceedings. Fernández has been ordered to pay some 135,000 euros, whilst the amount for her predecessor is around 35,000 euros. The case will be heard by the provincial court of Malaga, although no date has yet been set for the trial.

The case dates back to 2019, when an internal audit uncovered a series of irregularities in the management of the public cleaning company. Although the case was initially shelved, the public prosecutor’s office reopened the investigation in 2022. Following several years of investigation, it filed an indictment alleging possible offences of perverting the course of justice, embezzlement, fraud and forgery.

In that document, the public prosecutor is seeking sentences of five years’ imprisonment and eight years’ disqualification from public office for the two mayors, as well as the payment of financial compensation to the council. For the remaining defendants - municipal workers and a businessman - it is seeking sentences of up to six years’ imprisonment, as well as additional financial penalties. The public prosecutor’s office claims that, over several years, contracts were awarded without following legal procedures.

The irregularities described include contracts awarded to companies without a tender process, invoices for services or supplies that were not actually provided, and staff recruitment processes that failed to respect the principles of equality, merit and competence. Certain social expenditure and pay rises implemented at the municipal company are also being called into question.

A "deeply unfair" situation

The present mayor posted a video on social media on Tuesday in which she is seen providing explanations regarding the latest legal developments in the Soliarsa case. Fernández has emphasised that the prosecution’s charges are not related to any alleged misappropriation of public funds, but rather to the payment of the Christmas bonus and pay rises for staff – matters which, she said, are expressly provided for in their collective agreement.

“The prosecutor believes that a decision which is, logically, set out in his agreement is not in accordance with the law,” said the mayor, who sought to convey a message of “complete reassurance”. However, Fernández has described the situation as “deeply unfair”, directly pointing out that it is wrong to demand more than 100,000 euros in bail from her and to seek prison sentences for a decision taken in 2018.

On that date, she said she was not the mayor, nor was she chair of the board of directors of the municipal cleaning company, nor was she a member of that body. “It is unfair because I had nothing to do with that decision,” she said.

She explained that the court of auditors itself had already issued a ruling endorsing her management and ruling out any form of illegality in the relevant audits. In this regard, the mayor pointed out the “painful” toll this process has taken on her personally and politically, and which she considers to be a judicial error.