The Municipal Police in Dúrcal arrested a bogus priest for fraud – but it’s a long story.

An Andalusia company that sells huge candles like those used in churches and Semana Santa processions filed a complaint, saying that the town priest had ordered and received 3,000 euros worth of goods… but hadn’t paid.

“When we met up with him, he was wearing black trousers, a black shirt and a clerical collar,” explained the company’s representative, continuing, “He got into the back of the lorry to inspect the palettes and then showed us a garage where we were to unload them.”

Two weeks before this, the police had come across a large lorry from Pontevedra (Galicia) trying to squeeze through the streets, so they informed the driver that such vehicles were not permitted in the town centre, for obvious reasons.

They asked him what he was carrying and he replied that he was transporting several palettes of large candles – around a couple of thousand of them.

Back to this latest incident, the Guardia post in Chiclana de la Frontera (Cádiz) had contacted their opposite number in Dúrcal to say that they were looking for a suspect masquerading as a priest, The Dúrcal Guardia in turn tipped off the Policía Local.

Apparently a magistrate had issued an arrest warrant for fraud, while another magistrate in Onteniente, Alicante, had done the same.

The municipal police soon found him and invited him to accompany them to the Guardia Civil post, to which he offered no resistance and went along quietly. The police investigation continues.

(News: Dúrcal, Valle de Lecrin, Granada, Andalucia)