The Guardia Civil carried out a thorough search of Frigiliana Town Hall, taking 13 hours to complete the task before being satisfied.

The police search, which took place yesterday, was part of an investigation into alleged crimes of embezzlement of public funds and malfeasance.

The Mayor, Alejandro Herrero (PSOE), remained inside from start to finish at 22.30h. Obviously, whilst this was going on, the building was closed to the public.

Officers confiscated the Mayor’s mobile phone and those of his councillors, to prevent them communicating with each other. Mind you, using their wive’s phones would have been a way around it, perhaps.

The officers concentrated on reviewing and downloading contracts across all sectors, including Infrastructure, Sports, and Operational Services.

Three councilors left mid-afternoon, while the Mayor and two Vice-Mayors remained with officers until late evening. The Mayor was summoned as a suspect to Torrox court to appear with his lawyer, along with six of his councilors. His party holds an absolute majority in the Town Council.

But you would be wrong to think that only the Town Hall building was searched because officers searched homes, too, as well as a well-known local bar. All this was over suspicions concerning a contract linked to a business owned by a Mayor’s relative. Twenty other contracts involving different companies were also scrutinised.

This all goes back to 2017 when Mayor Herrero’s socialist government was in power. In 2024 the PP opposition spokesperson, Pedro Alcántara, publicly denounced a “string of hand-picked minor contracts exceeding legal limits,” alleging a dozen local businesses totalling two million euros. The PP flagged minor contracting, garbage collection bidding anomalies, and padel-court subsidies.

Mayor Herrero hit back, accusing the PP of “alarmism” and defending the municipality’s financial soundness, highlighting seven years without debt and rapid payments.

Editorial note: A Town Council can award contracts of up to 3,000 euros without having to go through a public tender process.

(News: Frigiliana, Axarquia, Costa del Sol, Malaga, Andalucia)

Keywords: Town Hall Searched, Embezzlment, Mobiles Confiscated, Dodgy Contracts, Mayor’s Relatives, Local Businesses

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