It was often claimed that the ex-Mayor of Almunecar, Juan Carlos Benavides, earned a staggering 80,000 euros per annum; more than the Spanish Prime Minister, but according to his last tax declaration, the Town Hall paid him 66,447 euros.

Consequently, when Mayoress Trinidad Herrera took up office and pronounced that she would take a 20,000-cut in her salary, receiving ‘only’ 59,000 euros per annum, the cut was actually 7,000 euros instead of 20,000.

The system is that when a person takes up public office, giving up another public employment post, such as teacher or doctor, for example, they receive the equivalent amount from the Town Hall that they earned in their previous post; hence, Sr. Benavides earned the said 66,000 euros because of his previous position as doctor… well that’s the theory, anyway.

However, what remains as fact is that the ex-Mayor will be earning more as an opposition councillor than the Mayoress herself, unless he volunteers to take a cut.

(News: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)