D. Antonio Lopez, President (CEO) of KeyMare, the large building group that built such huge urbanizaciones in Vera and Murcia such as Al Andalus, Pueblo Salinas, Hacienda or Salinas de Vera, quit with immediate effect last night citing “personal reasons”.
He called a meeting in the Vera-Hotel (of which KeyMare owns 51%), which was obligatory and at 6.30pm. People were called in from all parts of Spain, such as Murcia and Fuerteventura, so he wasn’t overly popular for doing that (the Murcia lot didn’t get home till past 10).
He thus ensured that a wild flurry of rumours went round, as most people, hearing they were being called to a mass meeting with no reason being given, assumed they were all about to be laid off en masse. Heavens alone knows how much stuff was nicked by staff assuming it was their last day.
The rumour in the office is that he was forced out due to flat sales, complaints about build quality in some areas, and the fact he fired someone for incompetence who later turned out to be the daughter of one of the main investors in KeyMare. Allegedly.
An unkind person tells me that the email confirming his resignation was lacking the phrase “he will be sorely missed”.
Keymare have built some 3000 houses in this area alone, plus buying most of Vera Hotel, the Almeria Basketball team, and setting up (together with the town hall of Vera) CODEUR, the company that runs most of Veras infrastructure and water systems (and which is very profitable). The ultimate investors are a bunch of childhood friends from the Canary Islands.