The best mayor in Spain

GABRIEL AMAT, mayor of Roquetas de Mar and leader of the Partido Popular (PP) at the Junta de Andalucia faces court.

Amat has been accused of granting a licence for the construction of ten villas in the area of La Fabriquilla. Amat and six of his councillors from 2007 are to be called as defendants in front of Judge Maria del Mar Alejo Rico. The case brought by the AMAyT association in conjunction with Margarent Kaiser Terriza also refers to irregularities in the sale of land that had a market value in a mortgage for €800,000, yet was subsequently reduced in a move that has been alleged to have directly benefitted Amat and his immediate family as well as members of the town planning.

Although he describes himself as a farmer, Amat is also an entrepreneur with several farms, a Volswagen-Audi dealership and a number of properties including six homes in Roquetas de Mar and percentage ownership in several commercial interests. 

Amat, a father of two has been described by his peers in a variety of ways. Maria Dolores Cospedal described him as: “the best mayor in the history of Roquetas.” His friend Javier Arenas did not hesitate to define him as “the best mayor of Spain.”

Opponents are not so glowing. Secretary of the PSOE in Almeria, Juan Carlos Perez Navas, said an: “urban development promoted by the local government may be benefitting some individuals with rezoning and no actions complying with the law.”