The secretary of the Reyes Bartlet cultural association, Marina Velázquez, claims that since 2020, the organisation has not been charging school choirs and music and movement classes at the Municipal Music School, funded by the Local Autonomous Body (OAL), and that she recently received the 2022 Culture grant.
In her statement, Velázquez affirms the recent allegations made by the government coalition (PP-ACP-CC) of Puerto de la Cruz regarding the “irregularities” inherited from the prior administration led by Marco González (PSOE), “which directly impact the financial stability of the municipality and the well-being of social and community entities.”
Last week, the mayor, Leopoldo Afonso (PP), along with spokespeople from the ACP and CC, David Hernández and Alonso Acevedo, publicly disclosed the debt of €4.1 million he discovered upon taking office, which includes an invoice liability of €2.4 million; €500,000 owed to the public company Pamarsa; €1.076 million in agreements; and Costa fines, totalling €142,740. “All of this signifies grave harm to the nearly 25 social and cultural entities that have not received the subsidies due to them,” he stressed.
Among these organisations is the Reyes Bartlet Association, which has been forced to halt projects, lose grants from other administrations, fail to meet payment deadlines with suppliers, encounter issues with the Treasury “and, worse still, has made us unwitting participants and complicit in the job insecurity that is regrettably prevalent in the cultural sector,” Velázquez declares. “This is an objective truth, devoid of any political pretensions. This is our reality, our challenging situation, which has led us to experience these surreal circumstances,” she adds.
Nevertheless, the association has not ceased its activities for a single day during these years, working in schools, at the Music School, and with school choirs… A social initiative where the voice, trained as an instrument, serves as a means to impart and promote other values such as self-esteem, tolerance, and inclusion. An educational project that would benefit from increased financial backing to grow as it did in its early days, with exchanges between centres and more monitors, with all funds raised from the various concerts that Reyes Bartlet holds throughout the year being allocated to it. “Also in each initiative that we have managed to successfully complete with the aid of many individuals,” the secretary underscores.
The PSOE refutes the claims
Marco González disputes the allegations regarding the debt left by his administration: “The socialists were ousted from the council in August, leaving us with a budget, including its approved modifications, an active subsidy plan, and sufficient funds to meet all obligations in a timely manner. This pertains to the year 2024.”
He further criticises the municipal government “for attempting to undermine the intelligence of citizens by discussing debts, as it is a falsehood, a deception that is alarmingly dangerous and incredibly populist. The objective truth is known to them, and they are aware that the municipal auditor, in his budget report, along with the treasurer, in his quarterly update, and the one issued by the Audit of Accounts, clarify that the council has no debts and that the remaining treasury exceeds €26 million, which is still held in municipal funds,” González explained.
Moreover, he recalls that in recent years, the socialists had to manage the settlement of approximately €10 million in debts inherited from the PP and CC administrations, exemplified by nearly €4 million owed to public employees; more than €2 million to Social Security related to the Lago Martiánez concession; over €3 million in price adjustments by concessionaire companies; nearly half a million for the expenses of the 2019 Mueca Festival; and €360,000 from the Modernisation and Improvement Plan agreement.
