Esperanza Aguirre distanced herself this Thursday from the award of two contracts from Canal de Isabel II linked to a golf practice range, in her testimony as a witness in the trial of the Audiencia Nacional for the Lezo case.
The former president of the Community of Madrid maintained that the idea of building that space was “entirely” hers, but denied having participated in the processing of the works, emphasizing that, although the Canal was owned by the Community, the management corresponded to the public entity's board of directors.
The idea was hers, but the processing was beyond her reach, according to her version
Aguirre explained that the proposal came to her after a trip to Tokyo, when she was a civil servant at the Ministry of Tourism, and that she was surprised to see golf practice ranges within the city. She added that it seemed like a “good idea” for the Canal space in Chamberí, which, she said, “practically has no parks or sports areas”.
The former PP leader also stated that Ignacio González and Ildefonso de Miguel “never” conveyed details about these works to her. Before entering the Audiencia Nacional, in San Fernando de Henares, she declared to the media that she was going to do so “to tell the truth and the whole truth”.
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, however, maintains that the operation had another objective: to benefit relatives of González, then vice president of the Community of Madrid. In its provisional conclusions, to which Europa Press had access, it places the origin of the events in 2002, when the Canal signed an urban planning agreement with the Madrid City Council to enable the public use of various facilities.
According to that account, in June 2004, the Canal's management, headed by De Miguel and González, promoted and facilitated a modification of the original tender without calling for a new bidding process, despite the substantial variations introduced. Anti-Corruption assures that a direct award to Dragados was agreed upon, on the condition that it subcontract certain works to Tecnoconcret Proyectos de Ingeniería, commercially known as TCT.
The trial keeps González, De Miguel and the TCT partners at the center
In addition to González, De Miguel and the TCT partners, José Antonio Clemente, Pablo Manuel González and Juan José Caballero, the latter two being the brother and brother-in-law of the former Madrid president, are accused. On the first day of the trial, held last week to raise preliminary questions, all denied the facts.
For all of them, the Prosecutor's Office is asking for six years in prison as alleged perpetrators of bribery offenses and as necessary cooperators, in addition to a fine of 550,000 euros.
Aguirre also referred to her departure from the Madrid City Council, when González was provisionally imprisoned in 2017. “I resigned due to political responsibility,” she said, adding that she did so considering that the judicial measure pointed to “very well-founded” indications of possible criminal irregularities, although she reiterated that she maintains the presumption of innocence of the former leader.