Government calls for calm in case of city councillor

A government spokesperson confirmed that the case had been discussed at their weekly cabinet meeting but declined to give further details. “This is a matter for the courts and the justice department,” government spokesperson Margarita Najera said yesterday.

Yesterday, the shockwaves from the case involving former Partido Popular councillor Javier Rodrigo de Santos continued with calls for the former Mayor of Palma, Catalina Cirer, to resign from her post as leader of the opposition on the city council.

It was revealed yesterday that officers from the National Police´s Anti-corruption unit first starting investigating the case in February this year after council officials uncovered a number of errors in their expenses accounts. The Mayor of Palma, Aina Calvo, was kept informed of all developments in the case throughout the investigation. Rodrigo de Santos is alleged to have spent the 45'000 euros over a two year period, while he was planning councillor on the council and deputy Mayor.

There were some suggestions yesterday that the former councillor had become addicted to cocaine.
The Balearic Tax Department, where Rodrigo de Santos worked after he left public office, said that he would be moved to another department pending the full outcome of the police investigation. Newspapers reported yesterday that Rodrigo de Santos was in a poor state of health.

For the Partido Popular, who were defeated in last Sunday´s local elections by the socialist party, the scandal could not have come at a worse time. All week local newspapers have been reporting that the party was in “crisis” and at that their annual convention later this year they would be electing a new leader. The woman tipped to head the Partido Popular, Rosa Estaras, said that she had full confidence in the judiciary.