Court calls mayor for questioning
A JUDGE has ordered the mayor of Orihuela, Emilio Bascuñana to make a statement as a suspect for allegedly collecting a public salary without doing any work during his time as an advisor to the regional health department between 2002 and 2013.
During this period, when the Partido Popular (PP) ran the regional government and he was already a party member, he earned over €202,000 but the anti-corruption prosecutor found no evidence, office or reports that he had actually done the job.
Sr Bascuñana has maintained his innocence since the investigation began in 2018, and said last week he is ‘very calm’ because the allegations are ‘an absolute lie’.
He said he worked as a doctor for more than 30 years and claimed he did everything asked of him by the health department.
The PP has opened an informative file on the case, in accordance with their statutes, but provincial coordinator Juan Francisco Pérez Llorca said they believe him to be innocent.
“We are going to wait for the judicial process… so the mayor can declare and give his explanations,” he said.
The spokesman for the Orihuela council coalition partners, Ciudadanos (Cs), José Aix said the case is ‘bad news’ for the municipality and the PP would have to deal with it ‘quickly and responsibly’.
The opposition PSOE and Cambiemos parties both insisted Sr Bascuñana should resign. Cambiemos said PP deputy mayor Rafael Almagro admitted in 2018 that Sr Bascuñana had benefitted from being transferred to a duty with great financial advantages due to a health problem, ‘which does not happen for any other health professional’.