Following the revelation of alleged anomalies in the contracting board, linked to the use of external technical reports not included in the official dossier, opposition groups and unattached councilors have spoken out. While the governing team defends the legality of the process, the rest of the municipal corporation denounces a scenario of "opacity" that, they claim, could extend to other major contracts of the legislature.
The Almonte City Council has maintained a reserved stance, reiterating its "confidence in the legality of the procedure" and assuring that the processing "continues in accordance with usual technical, administrative, and legal criteria." They have declined to make further statements, appealing to "prudence" as the process is "still ongoing."
“"We are talking about the largest contract in Almonte's history, and it has been processed in the dark."
Miguel Ángel Jiménez García, an unattached councilor and president of Almonte 100x100, has formally requested the complete dossier of the water contract, including "all communications" between the Mayor's Office and advisory firms. Jiménez suggests that the use of external consultants for technical evaluations could be a "modus operandi" in other multi-million euro contracts of the legislature, such as those for electricity (50 million) and the promenade (12.5 million).
For his part, Tomás Ruiz, a former councilor of the governing team, has described the situation as "worrying" and criticized the "lack of political leadership." Ruiz, whose move to the unattached group caused Francisco Bella with Ilusiona to lose the absolute majority, stated that the irregularities corroborate his decision to leave the municipal government party due to "accumulated distrust."
“"The news is very explicit. The statements by the spokesperson for the governing team, who in this case is the advisor, leave much to be desired, to say the least. That the future of the municipality is in this situation is disappointing."
From Vox, councilor José Joaquín de la Torre has stated that the current irregularities in the water contract are not a surprise, denouncing systematic "obscurantism" that blocks access to information. He has approached the Transparency Council to obtain data and believes that the seriousness of the current evidence could justify the intervention of the Prosecutor's Office.
Rocío del Mar Castellano, from Mesa de Convergencia, reinforced the idea of an "absolutely opaque and obscure" management in the Almonte City Council. She criticized the hiring of an external company for technical evaluation without it appearing in the dossier, and announced that they will formally request information and, if necessary, take legal action. She also plans to request an extraordinary plenary session.
The municipal corporation of Almonte is composed of 10 councilors from Ilusiona, 3 from the PSOE, 2 from Mesa de Convergencia, 1 from Vox, and 5 unattached councilors, forming a majority opposition bloc with a total of 11 councilors.
