Trial for embezzlement of PP's most-voted mayor in 2023 puts candidacy at risk
José María García Urbano, mayor of Estepona and the People's Party candidate with the most votes in a major city in 2023, faces an oral trial for abuse of authority and embezzlement. The opposition and the PP are calling for his immediate resignation.
Trial and suspension of membership
According to El Confidencial, José María García Urbano, mayor of Estepona, risks losing his candidacy in the 2027 municipal elections following the opening of an oral trial over the irregular hiring of a woman as temporary staff at the town hall. The Public Prosecutor's Office is seeking one year and eleven months in prison and almost six years of disqualification for the mayor, accused of abuse of authority and embezzlement of public funds.
The PP's national bylaws establish in article 19.7.b the "provisional suspension of membership when an oral trial is opened for crimes related to corruption". García Urbano, who has governed the municipality since 2011, maintains his presumption of innocence, as indicated by his refusal to make statements about the judicial case. The Investigating Court number 5 in the Málaga municipality delayed the proceedings because judge Íñigo Villar was on paternity leave.
Calls for resignation and political pressure
This Thursday, the PSOE and Vox, united as private prosecutors, will call for García Urbano to step down immediately. Enma Molina, councillor and Socialist spokesperson for Estepona, stated to El Confidencial that the mayor "politically, morally and ethically should resign, because he put his hand in public money". The general secretary of the PSOE in Málaga, Josele Aguilar, demanded that the PP "comply with its own bylaws and immediately remove José María García Urbano from the mayor's office of Estepona".
Manuel Aguilar, a Vox councillor and former deputy mayor under García Urbano, stated that "I believe that García Urbano, with what he has over his head, is going to announce in the coming days that he will not run in the next elections. It is the only way he has to come out of this with dignity, before the PP expels him". Aguilar also suggested the existence of internal pressure: "I am convinced that there is friendly fire from within the PP itself, because his relations are not good with the apparatus".
The investigated facts
The case focuses on the hiring, in February 2023, of a woman as temporary staff who, according to the Public Ministry, was not going to perform the functions corresponding to the assigned position. The woman, who maintained a sentimental relationship with García Urbano, was assigned to the External Control Area of the town hall. The hiring was formalised by municipal decree signed on 13 February 2023. She received 5,276.92 euros in wages during February and March, leaving her post on 31 March.
The order opening the oral trial reflects that the Public Prosecutor's Office is seeking one year and eleven months in prison and five years and eleven months of disqualification for the mayor. The initial request reached five years and six months in prison, but was reduced after the return of 7,866.89 euros to municipal coffers. The Public Ministry considers the economic damage remedied and applies the mitigating circumstance provided for in the Criminal Code. For the other investigated person, the Public Prosecutor's Office is seeking four years and six months in prison and eight years of disqualification as an alleged necessary cooperator.
Other investigations
García Urbano is also being investigated for his alleged involvement in the award of a municipal property in the Tower of the Mirador del Carmen to a company linked to his family circle, a case that points to possible crimes of influence peddling and administrative abuse of authority. Several municipal officials are also involved in this process, known as the "Torre Nuera" case.
Source: El Confidencial