# Mayor of Alcaucin Arrested for Corruption



## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Saw this today posted in Spanish Property News. Probably old news but thought I'd post it anyway - interesting...

In what is becoming almost an every day event in Spain, the Mayor of Alcaucín, a town in La Axarquía region of rural Andalucía popular with British buyers, has been arrested for taking bribes in return for reclassifying land and granting building licences.

Socialist Mayor José Manuel Martín Alba, 55, a former brickie, was arrested yesterday along with 12 others, including municipal architects, regional government planning officials, the owner of a local developer called Crocasa SL, and the owner of local estate agency Alta Axarquía. The Mayor is alleged to have accepted bribes of as much as 500,000 Euros.

The police investigation into town hall corruption in Alcaucín, called ‘Operación Arcos’, started when local environmentalists complained about an explosion of illegal building on rural land in the municipality. Environmentalists estimate that 20,000 homes have been illegally built in the countryside around Alcaucin.

Locals turned out in force to show their support for the Mayor, applauding as he was lead away in handcuffs by the police. Martín is a popular Mayor who was elected with an absolute majority in the last election. In many parts of rural Spain like Alcaucín, voters tend to turn a blind eye to corruption, so long as some benefits trickle down. A recent national study revealed that a majority of local politicians implicated in corruption scandals were re-elected.

Alcaucín is a small town in the La Axarquia region of Malaga Province whose population grew by 8% to 2,469 between 2007 and 2008, and by 63% since 2000. Cheap property, beautiful countryside, nice weather, and reasonable access to Malaga airport have made it a popular choice with foreign buyers in recent years. Most of the illegally-built properties around Alcaucin are reported to have been sold to foreigners, mainly Britons.

Given the amount of illegal properties in the area, any buyers interested in property in Alcaucin and the La Axarquia should proceed with extra caution.


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

A friend of mine just forwarded this. If you want to use it on other forums remember that is is subject to copyright. 

"Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely”

Please note that the information provided in this article is of a general interest nature and intended as a basic outline only. It is not intended as any substitute for detailed legal or other professional advice specific to the reader’s circumstances. Nothing contained in this article should be seen or taken as the writer or publisher providing legal or financial advice.

Lord Acton in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887 observed that "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." 

The most recent wave of Town Hall corruption proceedings in Malaga province, now numbering eleven separate actions against Mayors and other related Municipal officials are clearly flushing out corruption on a grand scale. 

Did the form of local government adopted by the Spanish system favour such opportunists or did the absence of concentrated central government control allow these public servants to create their own fiefdoms where their word was law and their signature could alter land classifications at will lining many pockets in the process. 

Are these officials, drawn from those who previously plied their trade as waiters, brickies and the like, “great men” or “bad men” or are they simply the victims of a greedy imperative to make hay whilst the sun shines. Whatever the cause they have caught, throttled and stuffed the golden goose with such enthusiasm that collectively they can shoulder a huge debt of responsibility for the current state of the Spanish property market. Turning a once aspirational paradise into a den of thieves where would be buyers proceed only with the upmost caution assuming that they are going to be shafted at every turn.

Didn’t anyone see this coming! 

This is a collective bank raid on a systematic basis going back many years. I suspect there are many now retired officials breathing heavy sighs of relief that they have not been implicated. Or does the rot simply go too deep to excise? Err… and what’s more does it still? 

The very charming and intelligent new Mayor of Marbella has taken a root and branch approach to these issues. The Marbella story is not one of white wash and spin but the new administration – I have been told - has introduced a number of hermetically sealed checks and balances that are aimed at assuring the outside world that these horror headlines can never occur again. Let’s hope so. Now very conscious that the sullying of the reputation of Marbella has occurred from the years of pillage the new administration has set it sites on reaching out to restore confidence. It’s a slow process but many believe – me included – that it’s worth the effort.

The principal of a major property sales agency – who are still active on the Costa del Sol – has noted that Marbella is now one of the safest places to buy a property in Spain particularly if the purchase is being made with mortgage funds. Bank lenders – those still keen to lend – will usually ask their team of lawyers to crawl all over a particular development to ensure that it has a completely clean bill of health – and only then will they lend against it.

Talking to some British visitors last week they reported that the current image of the Costa del Sol in the UK is something akin to a stubborn “social” disease. However, they are also aware that all will not be as it is currently and the corner will be turned. The actions taken against the Town Hall officials will result in prison sentences, prohibitions from holding public office and the sequestration of assets but as the dust starts to settle I suspect our estate agency colleague’s prediction will start to be as true for other municipalities in addition to Marbella.

Combine the Town Hall clean up with the very real opportunities to buy so called “distressed” property at heavily discounted prices it surely is a matter of time before the lure of the sun, the golf and crystal blue water charms a whole new generation of potential purchasers. However, it’s clear that these informed buyers will hold their “Caveat Emptor” banner high in the air – they will not be conned, ripped off or mislead by a dodgy Town Hall official – they now pretty much know where the bodies are buried and will leave no stone unturned in their due diligence to satisfy themselves that the victim culture must be a thing of the past. 

“Lest we forget” – I know that it can be a truly exciting experience seeking out your perfect home overseas – but don’t allow the thrill to cause you to drop your guard. Just so you know - and with particular thanks to our colleagues at Spain News Directory and Features - Typically Spanish - the currently publicised cases of real estate corruption in the province of Malaga are as follows:

Marbella – the Malaya case with the GIL party in the centre
Alhaurín el Grande – where the PP is at the centre of the Troya case
Estepona – where the Socialists face the Astapa case
Manilva – where the Ballena Blanca money laundering case affects the local PDEM party
Gaucín - where the ex Partido Andalucista Mayor has been banned from public office for seven years
Cómpeta - where the PP ex Mayor has been banned for seven years
Tolox and Ojén - where the prosecutor wants to see both Mayors from the Partido Andalucista and PSOE Socialist party serve two years in prison
Ronda – Where in the Merinos case the left wingers IU have complained about the PA
La Viñuela – where the Socialist Mayor faces a possible 18 months jail
And Sayalonga – where the Socialist Mayor is charged.

If you are buying or looking to buy in any of the above municipalities please, please do yourself a favour and hire a wholly independent and experienced professional advisor to guide you through the entire process and – even if it saves a few quid - don’t be tempted to cut corners.

© Mark FR Wilkins 2008 (Marbella) 

Mark FR Wilkins [email protected] The Rights Group - Lawyers in Marbella, Accountants, Rent a Villa, Mortgages in Spain, Foreign Exchange, Property on the Costa del Sol, Live, Settling, Living, Property Development and Investing +34 600 343 917


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