Wednesday 17 February 2010

11 arrested in urban development scandal

Thanks to a regular reader we keep a beady eye on several blogs. One of these is El Blog de Pepe Contreras, a curmudgeonly writer always willing to swim against the current in inimitable fashion. Okay, we admit we were drawn also to the poster (image) that illustrates his article on Operation Tequila, in which the Guardia Civil arrested 11 'speculators' in El Puerto de Santa María (not too far away geographically or spiritually), which we translate/summarise as follows: "Agents of the Guardia Civil's Urban Development Crime unit recently arrested 11 people under the umbrella of 'Operation Tequila'. They are variously charged with malfeasance, 'negotiations and activities forbidden to public functionaries', falsifying documents and actions against territorial ordination. The Operation began as theresult of a denuncia by members of a political group at El Puerto de Santa María's Council, which informed about alleged irregularities there.>Subsequent investigation revealed that, from 2004 to 2007, certain politicians issued building licences and legalized existing construction in areas where neither of these were legal because the land lacked either the proper qualifications or because, even if it did, the right to build had not been acquired through the legal documentary channels. Eleven people have so far been taken into custody but more can be expected."

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