Former mayor of Tolox absolved of planning crimes

JUAN VERA, former mayor of Tolox, has had a 15-year jail sentence and 10-year ban from public office for breaking town planning laws revoked by a Malaga provincial appeals court.
The former mayor had been given the sentence by Malaga City’s number eight criminal court for authorising construction of 348 homes on rural land where building was not permitted, with the judge considering there was sufficient evidence that Vera knew at the time that he was breaking the law.
Yet the appeals court declared that there was insufficient proof, admitting that Vera had always maintained that he knew nothing about these matters and simply followed recommendations from municipal technicians. The court also stressed that no work was done on the site as Vera cancelled the licence as soon as he was informed that the law had been broken.
Meanwhile the court report repeatedly specified that its decision was solely regarding the case in question and was in no way linked to other sentences or hearings involving the former mayor.