On the 19th of December the Mayor of Almuñécar, Trinidad Herrera, declared that the lease terms for the aquarium had been a “chollo,” meaning a bargain-cum-cushy number. The implication was that the Benavides administration had favoured the leaseholder, Aliart Engineering S.L. to a suspicious degree.

According to the Mayor, the terms set down by the previous Town Council four years ago meant that the Catalan company received 300,000 euros a year from the municipal coffers – 1.2m in the four years that they were running it. Furthermore, only after 60,000 visitors a year would Almuñécar receive any income from the takings. However, the Town Hall had no system in place to check the figures that the company offered.

Again, according to the Mayor, who has been going over the accounts, the 60,000 figure was never reached, remaining at around 50,000 visitors. In other words, the town never received any income from the aquarium installations; on the contrary, it was costing 300,000 euros a year.

The Mayor’s press release states that the private company took 800,000 euros but ended up not paying the staff salaries for the last five months. Neither, she states, did they put right the growing deficiencies.

She concluded that Almuñécar could not afford to see the aquarium closed down, especially after 11m euros was spent (mainly provided by the Junta) on setting it up.

Consequently, the Town Council is looking for political responsibility; i.e., taking the previous administration to task over not only the terms of the contract, but the fact that there are building defects in its construction.

The CA responded within 24 hours to these accusations. They point out that the bidding for the lease was open to any interested company and that the leasing board had sent the leasing terms to all the major companies in that field around Spain, however, none showed the slightest interest in running the installations. However, Aliart Engineering S.L., who were not even amongst those who were sent the tender, submitted a quote.

As for the leasing conditions being a “chollo,” if the terms were so ‘favourable,’ how come none of them responded?

How was it, asks the CA, that the Herrera administration let the situation fester and did not act sooner, while all the time the workers went without their salaries and the installations deteriorated?

Now, claims the CA with irony, the Mayor wants to appear as the great saviour – “As if by the art of magic, the pyromaniac has become a fireman,” their press release concludes.