The Prosecutor's Office requests 18 years of disqualification for 'Kichi' for prevarication and revelation of secrets in the Cádiz City Council

The Provincial Prosecutor's Office of Cádiz has requested 18 years of disqualification from any elective office for the former mayor of Cádiz, José María González, known as 'Kichi', for the actions of an advisor from his party in the City Council during his second term. The brief attributes two continuous crimes of prevarication and revelation of secrets to him.

The request is divided into 15 years of disqualification for prevarication and another three for revelation of secrets. The Public Prosecutor's Office also demands a fine of 18 months with a daily fee of 20 euros, totaling 10,800 euros. This is a provisional accusation, and it will now be up to the court to decide whether to open an oral trial.

González governed Cádiz between 2015 and 2023, first with Por Cádiz Sí Se Puede and then with Adelante Cádiz. After completing two terms, he left the political frontline and returned to his position as a high school teacher. An eventual conviction in the terms requested by the Prosecutor's Office would prevent him from holding any local, regional, state, or European elective office for 18 years, although it would not affect his work as a teacher.

A party advisor within the City Council

The case revolves around Fernando García Acuña, hired as a legal advisor by Por Cádiz Sí Se Puede. The Prosecutor's Office maintains that the municipal team had already exhausted the number of advisors it could incorporate into the City Council in 2018 and that five members of the local government "devised a plan" to place him within the ordinary functioning of the Consistory through a contract paid by the party.

García Acuña carried out this work between April 16, 2018, and April 14, 2019. During that period, he lacked the status of a civil servant, municipal worker, or temporary staff, but the accusation states that he continuously accessed reserved information, especially related to public procurement files that were still in the preparation phase.

The Prosecutor's Office attributes the authorization of this access to a "direct order and indication" from 'Kichi' and other members of his team. The advisor occupied an office in municipal dependencies, habitually participated in meetings with officials and political leaders, and was presented as an expert in tenders without clarifying that his contractual relationship was exclusively with the political party.

The brief argues that García Acuña intervened in the preparation and modification of specifications, contracts, and agreements, received documentation before its publication, and issued instructions that municipal employees had to comply with, backed by the government team. Although his signature does not appear in the files, the Prosecutor's Office maintains that some documents were drafted directly by him or modified by officials following his instructions.

The public prosecution also emphasizes that early access to tender information can compromise equality among companies aspiring to a contract. The functions of a political advisor are limited to advising the position they work for and do not allow them to make decisions, order changes in files, or direct the work of public officials.

Along with the former mayor, those accused are the then Councilor for Personnel, David Navarro; the former head of Tourism, Laura Jiménez; the former Chief of Staff of the Mayor's Office, José Vicente Barcia, and municipal advisor José Ramón Páez. For all four, the Prosecutor's Office also proposes disqualification penalties and fines for malfeasance and disclosure of secrets. García Acuña is attributed the role of necessary cooperator and faces nine years of disqualification for continuous malfeasance.

Adelante denounces "Gaditan-style lawfare"

Adelante Andalucía has reacted with "calm" to the brief and has once again presented the procedure as a case of "lawfare a la gaditana". The party emphasizes that the case does not investigate the enrichment of any of those involved or the appropriation of public money and maintains that the discussion is limited to the administrative and legal position held by García Acuña.

The political group of 'Kichi' also considers it "unusual" that Comisiones Obreras, whose complaint originated the investigation, continues to be a party alongside the PP. In their opinion, there is a dynamic of "judicial harassment" against the previous municipal government, which they link to the succession of complaints filed during its eight years at the head of Cádiz and subsequently archived or dismissed.

González himself denied in 2024 that García Acuña had given orders to officials. He defended that municipal employees knew who had authority to direct their work and assured that there was no internal complaint about the functions performed by the advisor. He also criticized the "permanent judicialization" of local politics and then expressed confidence that the investigation would be shelved.

The case has progressed since those statements and the Prosecutor's Office is now requesting the opening of an oral trial. The court will have to decide whether to send 'Kichi' and the rest of the accused to the dock, where the defenses will be able to discuss the Public Prosecutor's account and the evidence gathered during the investigation.