Pedro Rodrigues (Reporter)
A FORMER mayor is facing the prospect of life behind bars for corruption.
Jose Manuel Martin Alba, the ex-leader of Alcaucin Town Hall, is facing several charges in relation to the Arcos case.
These include fraud, embezzlement, forgery, bribery, money laundering, forgery of official documents and influence peddling.
The prosecutor has called for Alba to be sentenced to 226 years in jail, with 49 other defendants also in the dock.
Among them are lawyers, architects and relatives of Alba.
The case revolves around 90 crimes that were committed between 1999-2010.
The group stand accused of falsely selling land and taking back-handers during Spain’s construction boom.
Great. But I have lttle faith he´ll end up in jail. This is because it sets a dangerious precedent for Spain´s political class – 80 percent of which should be behind bars. Of course the royal family should be in jail as well but what are the odds of that happening? Living in Spain means living with and accepting endemic corruption at every level. It´ll be interesting to see if the license to steal will ever be revoked but again I have little faith.