Otura former mayor acquitted of administrative malfeasance

The Audiencia de Granada has acquitted Ignacio Fernández-Sanz, the former mayor of Otura, of the charge of continuous administrative malfeasance. The case concerned the management of a municipal waste collection and street cleaning contract.

In addition to Fernández-Sanz, the court acquitted five former councilors who were facing the same charges. The prosecution had initially requested a five-year prison sentence for fraud and embezzlement, but later modified its request to a special disqualification from public office for 15 years.

The contract in question was approved in 2008 and terminated two years later following a waste collection strike. Fernández-Sanz testified that the contract was intended to resolve long-standing cleanliness issues in the municipality, but municipal debt prevented payments to the contractor, leading to a debt of approximately 2.5 million euros and subsequent labor strikes.