Aznacóllar in Sevilla is the site of Spain’s largest mine which has been closed since a massive dam failure in 1998 spewed toxic waste across hundreds of kilometers. It was one of Europe’s largest ecological disasters.
Anyway, the Junta is pressing ahead with the reopening of the mine, and awarded the contract to Mexico’s Minorbis-Grupo Méjico consortium.
Trouble is, locals have taken the decision to court, and a senior mercantile Judge has now ruled that the contract has been awarded “in blatant disregard for the law” and has questioned whether Minorbis should ever have got past the first round of bidding, saying they their tender did not meet minimum criteria. The Judge has ordered an anti-corruption investigation into the bidding process and also a trial to see if the contract should be cancelled.
The judicial statement has blown Susana Diaz’s attempt to become President of Andalucia out of the water – ahead of the last elections she proudly took personal credit for attracting the Minorbis investment into Andalucia. She is now laying wide open to allegations of cronyism and corruption, and the PP this afternoon publicly said they would vote against Susana’s investiture until the Aznacóllar scandal is cleared up.
http://t.co/OsqjsP2VBk la Juez instrucción 3 de Sevilla solicita a la junta el expediente del concurso de Aznacollar.
— SamuelLeónHdz (@SamuSan25) March 3, 2015
“More of the same old corruption” seems to be the general attitude to this news. El Mundo said Susana should do the decent thing: quit after calling for new regional elections. Anti Corruption movements are calling for a hefty investigation to be launched to see who took the cash.
There’s another vote on Susana’s investiture this afternoon which she is going to lose.
Meanwhile, Andalucia is clicking along nicely without her, thank you very much.