The music school conservatorio in Albox is to be evicted on the 25th on June at 10am if the townhall doesn’t stump up the 5 years back rent it owes the owners of the building.
Trouble is, the rent on the building is €7,500 a month, so the townhall owes almost half a million euros .
Huercal Overa courts have agreed with the owners of the building that the townhall has never paid a single months rent since it signed the contract back in 2010.
Judge Carmen Marín ruled that whatever the outcome of the eviction, the townhall is liable for debts of €220.000 corresponding to the debts accrued between 2010 and 2012, when the first judicial order demanding payment was issued.
The current hot topic in the town is why the hell the townhall is paying €7,500 a month for a 600 sq metre office when similar locales in the town are currently being rented out for under €1,000 a month. Much electioneering going on here which I won’t go into, you can guess the accusations and counter accusations.
Anyway, the Mayor, Rogelio Mena (PSOE) says it’s a big misunderstanding, and that the €7,500 was a theoretical rent. He explained that the company that owns the building was supposed to donate it for free to the music school for life in exchange for permits to develop a hotel on the outskirts of the town. But the recession meant the hotel didn’t go ahead and the company renegade on the agreement. However, the Judge seems to be saying that’s bollocks, and no such formal agreement exists.
Mayor Mena is facing the same court on the 4th of June for hiding information from the opposition councillors. If found guilty, he will be facing a ban from public office for abuse of power.