The council official behind the alleged illegal sale of municipal scrap metal in Orihuela is set to testify in court on March 18, following the postponement of his initial hearing scheduled for December 18.
The accused, a municipal employee, is under investigation for an alleged crime of embezzlement and will appear before the 1st Court of Instruction at 10:15 a.m.
The testimony was initially delayed because the prosecutor assigned to the case was unavailable at the time, leading to the rescheduling of the hearing.
The Orihuela Council has joined the case as a prosecution party, considering itself a victim of the alleged embezzlement. Several other municipal officials have already provided testimony before the court, but unlike the primary suspect, they appeared as witnesses. Some of these witnesses had previously provided statements during the police investigation, and according to the City Council, they have since reaffirmed their earlier accounts.
The controversy surrounding the illegal sale of scrap metal emerged shortly before the last municipal elections. At the time, the opposition party, the Partido Popular (PP), accused the local administration of conducting unauthorized sales of scrap materials collected from public areas. These materials were stored in a municipal depot on the Molins road near the central police station before allegedly being sold to private scrap recovery companies.
See also: Rare Orihuela sculptures end up in scrapyard
To support their claims, the PP submitted video evidence showing a municipal truck transporting sculptures in the shape of palm trees to a company in the Puente Alto industrial estate. These sculptures, five in total, once adorned the Rincón Hernandiano, the square surrounding the Miguel Hernández House-Museum. They were originally a gift from the CAM Foundation in 2008, commemorating the anniversary of the poet Miguel Hernández’s death.
The sculptures had been removed from public display due to vandalism and placed in municipal storage, where they remained despite their significant artistic and financial value. The depot also contained other valuable items, including a cannon, an anchor from Plaza del Carmen, and a monolith honouring dictator Francisco Franco, which was removed from the Glorieta following public protests.
The National Police conducted an investigation into the illicit scrap sales, discovering that the sculptures, created by the prestigious Murcian firm Muher, were valued at 50,000 euros each, totalling 250,000 euros. However, the workers who transported them to the scrap yard in Puente Alto allegedly received only 940.40 euros in return.
During the investigation, authorities reviewed access logs to the municipal storage facility and uncovered messages between former mayor Carolina Gracia (PSOE), then Human Resources Councillor Luisa Boné (Cs), and an Infrastructure Department employee, who claimed they lacked the authority to provide information to the police.
See also: Orihuela council employees in scrap metal fraud
The former PSOE-Cs administration expressed surprise at the allegations, stating that they fully cooperated with the investigation and would support any legal actions necessary to uncover the truth. They even pledged to appear as victims should the case go to trial.
Further suspicions extended to another municipal storage site on the coast. PP Councillor Víctor Valverde, after his party regained control of the municipal government in June 2023, claimed that additional scrap metal had been moved from this coastal site to companies in Almoradí and Los Montesinos. However, the police found no conclusive evidence to support these claims.
Police investigations did reveal, however, that some proceeds from the alleged scrap sales were used to pay for meals for municipal workers in local restaurants. Additionally, witnesses indicated that funds were also used to purchase air conditioning units and televisions from two local businesses, which were then installed in municipal offices used by service workers.
