The development of the 'Caso Mascarillas' has taken a significant turn. After days of silence and unified defense versions suggesting that tenders from the Provincial Council were almost institutional obligations or even loss-making, the defense strategy has been compromised. José María Llamas, former spokesperson and councilor for the PP in the Cantoria City Council, has altered the procedural course by admitting to the investigating judge that he had direct contact with former vice-president Óscar Liria to request works, thereby undermining the containment line followed in the case so far.
Llamas, who is under investigation for his connection to one of the companies involved in the alleged fraudulent distribution of minor contracts, decided to voluntarily submit to questioning. Before the magistrate, the prosecution, and the accusers, the local politician naturally acknowledged visiting the Provincial Palace to inquire about the works assigned to him. He argued that these bilateral agreements did not constitute a crime, asserting that only the delivery of financial compensation would have been illegal, and challenged the prosecution to prove any cash payments.
José María Llamas's testimony not only affects the investigated political leadership but also weakens the position of other implicated businessmen. While major provincial construction firms defended that undertaking these minor contracts was unprofitable and done out of institutional courtesy, the investigated individual dismantled this alibi by stating: "Did they think I would bid if I wasn't going to make money?", thus confirming that the contracts under scrutiny did yield real profits.
This procedural setback occurs as the profile of contractors within the scheme is being analyzed. Legal professionals clearly differentiate between large corporations, for whom these minor contracts represent less than 0.1% of their income, and small local businesses that depended directly on the Council's funds for survival. For the peripheral network in the Almanzora region, controlling closed invitations was the true driver of their annual profit.
The main declarant of the day has prior judicial records. In July 2011, the Criminal Court number 1 of Almería sentenced José María Llamas to 24 months in prison for a crime against territorial planning, after evidence of the construction of 13 single-family homes on non-developable land in Cantoria without the required municipal license.
Tension escalated with the testimony of Llamas's business partner in the investigated company, who is also the wife of the former mayor of Cantoria, Pedro Llamas. The investigated individual, an elderly woman assisted by a walker, expressed ignorance regarding the company's balances, works, or daily management when questioned by the prosecution. When asked about her real reason for holding 50% of the shares and signing company checks, she spontaneously admitted to administering the entity because her husband could not do so at the time, clearly alluding to his disqualification from public office.
Contradictions extended to other contractors. The head of an environmental health services company attempted to distance himself from the network, claiming he had only met the former councilor a couple of times. However, his alibi comically collapsed during the general questioning when he slipped and referred to the investigated individual as "Pepe," a familiarity the judge and prosecutor used to highlight a supposed relationship of trust between the supposed competitors.
The lawyer for the popular accusation, representing the PSOE, Javier Salvador, outlined the criminal pattern he believes is being established in the case file. Salvador explained that the cited firms are part of an "engineering of the bribe" designed to manipulate public procurement through a well-defined mechanism. "The alleged network operated like fiefdoms, whether in Fines with the Sánchez family, Cantoria with Llamas, or Tíjola with Martínez and his wife," he denounced, describing a structure where a provincial political chief issued exclusive invitations to a closed group of allied companies.
At the end of the session, and cautiously due to the court's warnings about leaks, Salvador avoided elaborating on the exact content of the proceedings but implicitly acknowledged the case's shift, stating that "everything is starting to fit." He confirmed that the prosecution had been able to question two of the investigated individuals. However, the lawyer concluded the encounter with the media by emphasizing the process's confidentiality, "The content of the interrogation is something that should remain between the parties, although we are accustomed to seeing the opposite," leaving the weight of judicial records to certify the collapse of the business trench in the Mascarillas case.
