Businessman behind Alicante protected housing scandal reveals waiting list came from previous developments
The former urban planning councillor who had to resign after obtaining a Les Naus flat claims to the judge she does not recall whether she participated in the processing, while the regional government official who was removed from his post admits he informed his wife about the protected housing
Initial statements in trial over irregular allocation of protected housing in Alicante
The case of alleged irregular allocations of protected public housing (VPP) in Alicante reached the phase of statements from the accused on Wednesday, according to El Mundo. The judge presiding over court number 5 of the Investigative Section of Alicante's Court of First Instance is keeping 15 people under investigation, including the former urban planning councillor of the city council, Rocío Gómez, and the developer of the Les Naus residential complex, Francisco Ordiñana.
The developer reveals the origin of the waiting list
Ordiñana, sole administrator of Fraorgi—the company managing the cooperative that developed the flats on municipal land acquired for 6.6 million euros—admitted to the judge that the waiting list used to allocate the housing came from previous developments. The cooperative had justified at the time that the allocation was carried out with limited publicity because it had more than 2,000 people on that list. The PSOE and Ciudadanos, which are exercising popular prosecutions, had previously denounced the lack of transparency in the process.
The developer also acknowledged having personally called municipal architect Francisco Nieto—also an accused party—in January 2025 to inform him of a vacancy in the development. This contact took place months after both had met at the city council as part of urban planning procedures. Ordiñana claimed, however, that he did not recall Nieto having been present at those meetings.
The former councillor does not recall her role in the processing
Rocío Gómez, who had to resign after it became known she had been allocated one of the Les Naus flats, declared to the judge that she does not recall having participated in the processing of the file. She also did not recall meeting with the administrator of the cooperative or that her parents-in-law—also beneficiaries of another flat—were registered as residents at Les Naus. The former councillor claimed she registered with the cooperative before entering politics.
The regional government official admits informing his wife
Late in the afternoon, Roberto Palencia, the regional government official removed from his post after his wife was found to have obtained the keys to one of the flats, appeared before the judge. Palencia explained to the judge that he had approved and endorsed the 140 Les Naus cases because staff was lacking and the employee who was initially supposed to process them had left the post.
The housing department official admitted to having informed his wife of the existence of the protected housing, although he noted that at that time both were planning to separate. Nevertheless, the couple's cohabitation never actually ceased. Palencia denied having committed any irregularity in processing his wife's endorsement, considering that his role was purely administrative in nature. However, a witness declared that the official himself had admitted to his superiors that he had made a mistake, using a colloquial expression.
The former contracting director also claims lack of knowledge
María Pérez-Hickman, former municipal general director of Public Contracting at the city council and current head of the Contracting department, also gave a statement on Wednesday. According to El Mundo, Pérez-Hickman claimed she was unaware that her children and her nephew had registered with the Les Naus cooperative.
Wednesday's statements constitute the first statements from the accused in a case investigating how a protected housing development on municipal land ended up in the hands of public officials and relatives linked to Alicante's city council.
Source: El Mundo