Several scarecrows, a nursing home and a concession in question. This is how we could summarize the judicial conflict that the Tordillos City Council has, a Salamanca municipality of 320 inhabitants that has been led by the Popular Party for decades. It all started with a scarecrow contest and a worker who defined her responsibilities and, for now, it has ended with a judicial process for the award and an investigation for a crime of threats from the mayor towards the geriatrician. In this case, according to sources from the Prosecutor’s Office, the parties and some witnesses have already testified.
The company that had run this residence since 2008 has appealed the rules of the public tender that the mayor called after his attempt to fire an assistant failed. The worker, the only one who was on that shift caring for the elderly, refused to put up some scarecrows from a contest that the town had organized and that he wanted in the center’s courtyard, although he had not notified the Management. .
The councilor showed his willingness to extend the contract until he had this discussion with the worker and decided to put the concession of the nursing home out to tender, according to the concessionaire. Now, the council has a judicial process before the Contentious-Administrative Court for arbitrariness of the public powers after it showed the nursing home to several businessmen before announcing the public tender.
Currently, the dispute is suspended due to criminal prejudice in the case that is under investigation due to alleged threats, coercion and prevarication by the mayor. The worker’s lawyer also denounces that these behaviors are “aggravated with abuse of authority.”
The appeal before the Contentious Court challenges the resolution of the City Council produced by administrative silence after the appeal filed against the specifications for the concession of the San Antonio de Tordillos municipal residence that was published on the Public Sector Contracting Platform on September 18, 2023.
“The complaints only seek to damage my image”
This medium has contacted the mayor, who has been in office since 2011, Ángel Luis Alonso, who has declined to answer any of the questions posed. Hours after the call made by this journalist, a person linked to the mayor sent a statement in which he defended that he had “always” acted “in accordance with current legislation.” “The complaints filed against me only seek to damage my personal image and reputation,” he reproached in that statement, in which he denied “any type of irregularity” in the contest.
Regarding the judicial investigation related to the threats, the mayor assures that “it is based on a falsehood.” “I hope it is resolved as soon as possible so as not to continue tarnishing the name of the municipality in general and of me in particular,” he stated in the statement, in which he reported that he would study taking legal action to “defend” his “honor” against “ these types of attacks.”
Discussion over some scarecrows
The company that has appealed the documents claims that the mayor intended to extend the contract until he refused to fire a worker who had an argument with him over some scarecrows. According to the employee, a geriatrician at the residence, a girl showed up with some scarecrows. “The girl, very kind, told me that I had to place them so that the elderly could choose the one they liked the most. And I responded that I couldn’t do that, that I was there to care for the elderly,” he tells elDiario.es.
The employee, who prefers to remain anonymous, continued with her work until a man, who she would later discover was the mayor, showed up. “He came saying that he was ‘the highest authority’ and in fact I hesitated a little because I didn’t know who he was. He told me that he was the head of the town and that he forced me to put up the scarecrows and I responded that it was not in my contract,” explains the assistant, who acknowledges that if the councilor had raised the issue differently, he would I would have done better. The complaint to the Civil Guard, to which this newspaper has had access, reflects that the victim says that the mayor told him: “Your days are numbered.”
“What the mayor did is not fair”
Asked by this newspaper, the worker insists that she could not stop serving the residents to place the scarecrows. “What she did is not fair,” agrees the former director of the nursing home, who continues: “The worker could not leave the residents alone and go out to put up the scarecrows. “If an old man falls or anything happens, she would have been responsible.”
In the letter sent to the Contentious Administrative Court of Salamanca, the company assures that one day after this discussion, it received a call from the mayor demanding the dismissal of this worker because she had not wanted to put up the scarecrows. The former director of the residence assures this medium that the worker in question is “one of the best” and highlights her dedication to care at important moments, such as during confinement, when she and another colleague stayed day and night with the elderly during fifteen days to avoid infections.
For this reason, he refused to fire the geriatrician. And then the procedures for the new contest began, which is now being appealed. “He has approved the specifications not because the extension of the contract has ended, but because of an arbitrary decision not to fire the worker,” the accusation states.
The worker’s accusation accuses the councilor in the criminal proceedings of exercising “an obvious abuse of power” by “threatening that he was going to do everything possible to get her fired”, something he did when addressing the director of the residence to request his dismissal. “He took advantage of his position of power as mayor, he threatened the director that ‘he would take away her concession’, which he also did,” reflects the letter.
Visits to the residence one month before the tender announcement
The company, which had been in residence since 2008, received an email on August 14, 2023 informing that a new tender would be issued and some interested people were going to visit the facilities. However, that specification was not published until September 18, more than a month later. The mayor and the secretary accompanied several companies and people, including the current winner, Galisancho councilor for the Popular Party. When consulted by this newspaper, Patricia Rodríguez has refused to make any statements.
The company did not even participate in the tender because it understood that the bidding rules did not comply with the law. The concessionaire’s accusation considers that the impartiality of the Public Administration in administrative contracting is being violated. “The descriptive memory is valued at 50%, which allows the contracting body to decide with absolute discretion,” establishes the letter, to which this newspaper has had access.
Furthermore, the prosecution considers that the City Council has made an “incorrect” description of the facilities and equipment, with a list of elements that do not correspond to the Residence; and highlights that there is a lack of information regarding existing jobs.
The prosecution believes that the mayor and the City Council intended to “favor potential bidders” who could only know of the intention to put the concession out to tender through one of them and not through the Public Procurement portal, because it had not yet been published.
No response to opposition
The only opposition councilor, for the Socialist Party, asked about this issue in writing, but never received a response. “He took it very badly. “More than a politician, he believes he is a farm owner,” says the councilor, Kevin Pérez, who shows his “surprise” that the mayor “treats City Hall assets as if they were his property.” “The confrontation was ridiculous, but he is not used to being confronted,” adds the socialist.
The PSOE councilor asked about this “exhibition” of scarecrows and if it had the consent of the director of the residence, if a worker was required to install these scarecrows and questioned if there was a relationship between the discussion with the worker and the end of the contract. of the residence.
He also asked the mayor why the director was only notified 13 days in advance that her contract would end and if there had been no “interference” by the councilor in the competition by having contacted residence directors before launching the competition.
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