Zebra earns its stripes
CALPE has introduced its first ‘intelligent’ zebra crossing which alerts drivers that people are about to use the facility and boost road safety.
The pedestrian crossing has sensors which pick up the presence of pedestrians before they step into the road – lights between the stripes flash to warn drivers. The smart zebra crossing is at the junction of
Avenida de los Armitos Españoles with Calle Corbeta and Calle L’Esport – said to have a ‘high density’ of pedestrian and vehicle traffic on a daily basis.
Mayoress Ana Sala and councillor Domingo Sala went to test the new system with representatives of Pavapark, the company running the town’s pay and display parking, which installed the new technology.
FORMER treasurer of the Partido Popular (PP), Luis Bárcenas took the stand at the National Court in Madrid this week to answer questions over the slush fund that was allegedly operated in the national party with under-the-counter payments made by businessmen who were allegedly looking for lucrative public contracts.
Sr Bárcenas was questioned over two days and has admitted that he ran the ‘parallel’ system of accounting – the so-called ‘B’ accounts, which he maintains were secret records of illicit payments to the PP, which were handed out to party members.
The defendant claimed that he showed former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy a copy of the documents and that Sr Rajoy destroyed the papers by putting them through a paper shredder in his office.
During his appearance in court, Sr Bárcenas accused former PP leaders of cowardice for not admitting that the
illicit system of payments had operated in the party
He told judges that the PP should admit that ‘we made a mistake, we received funds in an irregular way and we knew what we were doing’. Sr Bárcenas
referred to 42 notes in the ‘B’ accounts which include the name of Sr Rajoy.
“The amounts that appear relating to Mariano Rajoy in the documentation are correct and these run from 1996 or 1997 until 2008,” he told the court.
He also hit out at what he called a police operation that was organised by the interior ministry – run at the time by the PP – to steal evidence of the party slush fund from him.
This case is currently being probed by another court as part of the so-called ‘Kitchen’ investigation.
Sr Bárenas also told judges that an expensive refit of the PP’s national headquarters in Calle Génova in Madrid was paid out of the party slush find.
Two partners in the company Unifica – which carried out the work – are also on trial and face jail terms of three years if convicted.
They have denied that they agreed to accept an illegal cash payment for the work.
They told the court that they had wanted to put in ‘a large official invoice’ which would give them more prestige as a company.
The partners told the court that Sr Bárcenas was untouchable in the PP, ‘he was like a god’ and had ‘incredible power’. The also stated that there was a ‘bad atmosphere’ in the party headquarters.
The case continues.