The country is teetering on the brink and so it seems is Bigastro.
Like all municipalities in Spain, Bigastro was awarded money by the government under a scheme called Plan E . In a bid to boost the economy, the money was to be used to finance new works and at the same time provide employment. The work had to be signed off as completed by a specific date at which point the money would be released to pay the companies that had carried it out. The total that Bigastro was to receive was 1.3 million Euros.
According to the spokesperson for the present council, Aurelio Murcia and the lady mayor, Charo Bañuls, the town still owes almost 300,000 Euros to some of the companies that completed the work and if that is not paid by January then the state requires Bigastro to pay back 736,406 Euro and at the same time pay its debt to the companies.
The companies affected are planning to take the council to court to recover their money in which case the town will also be faced with the bill for costs and interest on the debts. The total amount could well be 1,106,681 Euros ( 737,406 Euros owed to the government and 369,275 Euros owed to the companies).
Aurelio Murcia says that they have no idea where the money was spent and can only assume that it was used to pay for other items on the council’s budget. The previous mayor, Raúl Valerio Medina has summoned a press conference for today and says that everything has a perfect explanation.
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