A report by the Council of Mallorca has concluded that contracts for parking spaces for three former councillors were unauthorised and therefore constituted an irregularity. The report has been forwarded to the Court of Auditors. The Council is demanding repayment totalling around 40,000 euros.
This refers to the period 2019 to 2023 and to three councillors - Andreu Serra, the PSOE councillor for tourism and sport; Bel Busquets of Més, who was vice-president of the Council and responsible for culture, heritage and language policy; and Jaume Alzamora, also Més, the ex-councillor for local development and now the party's chief spokesperson at the Council.
By department, the claims amount to €17,922.26 (Serra), €10,309.42 (Busquets) and €11,711.76 (Alzamora). In each case, the report has concluded that contracts for underground car park spaces with the SMAP operator were not governed by the principle of public interest. The findings must therefore be forwarded to the Court of Auditors, "so that it may analyse whether liability can be enforced through the reimbursement procedure".
In all cases, the report highlights that, on different dates, a lease agreement for parking in the Vía Roma car park was signed without the proper identification of vehicles covered by the contract. After the lease agreement expired, "no payment of invoices issued by SMAP was made". In total, there were nine parking spaces that were allegedly used in an irregular manner for years. These were for "personal vehicles".
In August 2024, the three councillors filed submissions indicating that they opposed assuming the payment of costs arising from the lease agreement for the Via Roma parking. But the current councillor for the presidency, Antoni Fuster, insists that these costs cannot be attributable to the Council of Mallorca, "as there is no regulation or legal provision that covers this type of expense, so they belong to the person responsible for incurring them".
He adds: "The contracts were not drawn up in accordance with the general regulations for administrative contracting." Nevertheless, the Council made the payment in order to avoid a legal claim by SMAP. The Court of Auditors will now determine who should pay the amount.