Mayor of Frigiliana after 13-hour-long police search of town hall: 'Everything seems fine'

Local government

Antonio Herrero left the Malaga province town hall shortly after 10.30pm on Tuesday 30 June as part of a police investigation into alleged offences of misconduct in public office and embezzlement of public funds

Eugenio Cabezas and María José Díaz Alcalá

The mayor of Frigiliana, Alejandro Herrero, left the Malaga province town hall shortly after 10.30pm on Tuesday 30 June, visibly tired, after the Guardia Civil spent over 13 hours searching the building as part of an operation led by the court in nearby Torrox, investigating alleged crimes of misconduct in public office and embezzlement of public funds.

In a brief appearance before the journalists gathered there, the mayor, in office since February 2017, stated that the officers had been "collecting data, invoices, and documents." He went on to say, "We've been making photocopies all day." When asked if the search had ended or if it would continue on Wednesday, Herrero indicated that it was over. "Everything seems fine," he said.

Minutes later, he got into his wife's car and left for home. According to information obtained by SUR from sources close to the investigation, Herrero will testify as an investigated person in the Torrox courthouse in the coming days, along with the six PSOE councillors: Maria del Carmen Cerezo, Antonio Manuel López, Francisco Iranzo, Sonia Castillo, Andrés Ortega, and Eduardo Jesús García Sánchez. At least one municipal employee has also been summoned.

The investigation is focused on documentation of contracts and invoices with some twenty companies that provide or have provided services or goods to the town hall in recent years. The investigation began following a complaint filed by a municipal secretary and auditor who worked at the town hall between 2022 and 2023.

In addition to the extensive documentation, officers also seized the mobile phones of both the mayor and the councillors to ensure the integrity of the investigation. The town hall remained closed to the public all day.

The town hall employee had been raising objections to the invoices and contracts with these companies, as SUR has learned. These objections, in the form of reports, were overridden by the mayor and councillors. These resolutions and the extensive documentation gathered are the focus of the judicial investigation into the alleged crimes of misconduct in public office and embezzlement of public funds.

The operation has not been limited to the town hall building. The review of the documentation meant that officers also searched a private residence and a well-known bar in the town, as, according to sources, part of the investigation focuses on a suspicious contract allegedly linked to a company owned by a relative of the mayor.

Furthermore, contracts with some twenty other companies in various sectors, both for goods and services provided to the town hall are being investigated, as SUR has confirmed.