The controversy surrounding the management of Málaga's Municipal Urban Planning Department has escalated following a complaint by Con Málaga, which reported thousands of paralyzed urban planning procedures. PP councilor, Carmen Casero, has stepped forward to categorically deny these claims, calling them "false" and accusing the coalition of a "distorted" reading of the data.
“"It is rigorously false, it is a lie. If you have the slightest doubt that in any of these files there has been any kind of indication, instruction, or order to paralyze a file, go to a court and file a complaint."
Casero explained that processing an urban planning infraction file is a "complex" procedure that can involve up to eight administrative milestones, from initial inspection to sanction resolution. She insisted that the files are not simple and that their prolonged duration is due to legal complexity itself, not to inaction by the government team.
The municipal official presented figures to support her position, indicating that since the creation of the Urban Planning service, 48,365 infraction files have been processed, of which 74% are already resolved. Furthermore, she noted that since the beginning of the current term in 2023, 2,132 files have been opened, with 724 already completed. According to Casero, speaking of a "bottleneck" is a biased interpretation of the figures, as the 12,000 files mentioned by the opposition encompass different steps of the same procedure.
The councilor harshly criticized Toni Morillas, deputy spokesperson for Con Málaga, for sowing unfounded suspicions that, in her opinion, slander both the government team and the technicians of the Urban Planning Department. She reiterated that she will not allow the professionalism of officials or political leaders in the area to be questioned.
Regarding staff shortages, Casero stated that the licensing department has 88 technicians and that 19 people are assigned to the urban planning discipline service. She highlighted that in 2024, "almost 600 infraction files" were opened, a figure that surpasses the best data from 2017, when 258 were registered. The councilor acknowledged that some procedures might have been open for decades due to judicialization or the complexity of their phases, but denied that this demonstrates structural paralysis.
The political conflict remains open, with Con Málaga demanding an investigation commission, similar to the one carried out in 2018 due to a backlog of files. Toni Morillas has returned the challenge to Casero, urging the PP to activate such a commission if they "have nothing to hide" in the Municipal Urban Planning Department.
