The Promotion Society awarded 23 minor contracts in a single day in December 2023

«In 2022, 82% of the contracts that the Promotion Society has signed with companies have been by hand, directly, through minor contracts or negotiated without advertising. In 2023, there were 3,900 minor contracts or those awarded by hand. 45% of them, already with Carolina Darias, more than 1,600 with a total amount of almost 4 million euros. For example, just in one day, On December 4, 2023, 23 minor contracts were awarded», denounced Jimena Delgado, spokesperson for the popular parties in the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Council.

Delgado pointed out that, “the abuse of contracts negotiated without advertising is not justified by the Contract Law” of the public sector. «We have detected a case that we have already highlighted and that is, to say the least, curious. It is the one of the two tents from the last carnival, with a negotiation without advertising for a total of 199,000 euros, for which three companies are invited, two of them share the same administrator and the third the same registered office,” he adds.

He also highlights that “among the minor contracts awarded” during the past year there are two total amounts, “one of 230,000 euros and another of 365,000 euros, to two companies that have a single administrator.”

Extraordinary plenary session on April 24

Added to this, according to the popular spokesperson in the capital city council, is that “invoices have been paid in excess of the amounts awarded” and the existence of others “that are not accounted for and the procedures that have been used with them are not even known.”

The popular ones requested a week ago the holding of an extraordinary monographic plenary session on the Promotion Society, which will finally take place next April 24, starting at 8.30 am. In it, said Jimena Delgado, they will request the creation of an “inquiry commission” to analyze the accounts and management of the Promotion Society Society.

After the last board of directors of the Company, as this newspaper exclusively reported on March 28 in its paper and web editions. It was decided to set aside two months, with paid leave, for the previous manager, Agustín Díaz, as well as to carry out an external audit of the last five years. According to the popular ones, this audit external will not start from scratch, but will review the existing ones, Therefore, they consider it necessary to create a commission that does investigate in depth what has led this 100% public entity to have a deficit of 3.2 million euros in its 2023 accounts with a debt to suppliers of 7. 1 million euros.

Accounts Hearing

Along these same lines is the announcement made by the island president of the Popular Party and deputy, Carlos Ester at the same event this Monday with Jimena Delgado. The popular parties have registered a request with the Audience of Accounts commission for this body, dependent on the Parliament of the Canary Islands, to carry out an audit report between the years 2016 and 2023 on this public company.

«We have to provide light and transparency to provide answers and tell citizens that things can be done differently. In 2021, the PP already requested that the Audience of Accounts analyze the last three years, but it caused rejection because the parliamentary majority was from the PSOE, Nueva Canarias and Podemos, the same three parties that governed the City Council. Why did they say no? Well because today we see what was happening. Now we will ask the PSOE to join our request, not as it did in 2021,” said Carlos Ester.

The popular ones assured that they will try to exhaust “all bureaucratic avenues” to clarify what happened in the Promotion and Promotion Society. They do not rule out going to court without it being necessary.

Darias and the mud of the PP

Practically at the same time that the Popular Party was giving its press conference, Mayor Carolina Darias was questioned about what the conservatives were denouncing. The head of the city government was blunt in her response. «The right lessons. “I am willing to learn but not from those who have done worse before,” she said.

Darias assures that corrective factors are being applied by the City Council, but he stressed that he does not believe that the main force of the opposition is in a position to criticize the reality of the Promotion Society. «What the Popular Party wants is to muddy. He has nothing else to do but that. But I ask for a little respect for the actions of those in charge,” she said.

Given the accusations and information that have been revealed in recent weeks, Darias wanted to defend the management that has been carried out by the head that manages the city’s culture and carnival. «Promotion has been acting as always. Minor contracts are absolutely legal, contemplated by legislation. “In the artistic field, only these types of contracts are used,” he commented.

For this reason, in turn, he insisted that changes have been made in recent days for the management of present and future programming. «We have said that there is a turning point and acting with maximum transparency. We will continue taking the appropriate steps within the board of directors, in which there is representation of the opposition. And we are going to adjust the budgeting to the programming. Something that is very important. Powerful initiatives will be brought to the council, which we will report to the council itself,” he assured.