Wednesday, August 03, 2011

A legacy of debt

It isn’t just Bigastro where a new council is facing a huge legacy of debt.

Interestingly, whereas in Bigastro it is the PP who are inheriting debt from a long standing Socialist council, in Orihuela it is a Socialist council that are facing a mountain of debt from a long standing PP council.

The new first Deputy Mayor of Orihuela, Antonia Moreno (PSOE), said at a news conference yesterday that the City is completely drowned by debt "inherited" from the former government team.  She says that the bills left in the drawers by the previous Mayoress, Monica Lorente (PP), amount to 17 million spent outside the city’s budget.  Add to that another 15 million in unpaid claims for payments to suppliers, plus another 58 million owed ​​to the banks including interest on loans. In total, she claims that the city faces 90 million euros of debt.

In both Bigastro and in Orihuela, the previous councils were nearly returned to office. Imagine the situation in four years time if either had been successful. I reckon there is something to be said for a change of council and certainly mayor at regular intervals. There is also something to be said for a bit more transparency about the state of affairs in council budgets.

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