Court Orders San Juan de la Rambla Socialist to Repay €1,733
A court has ordered Socialist councilor Priscila Díaz to repay €1,733 in public funds, received due to an administrative error, a decision she attributes to a lack of clear repayment instructions from the San Juan de la Rambla City Council.
A councilor from the Socialist party in San Juan de la Rambla, Priscila Díaz, has been ordered by a court to pay back 1,733 euros of public money. This obligation comes from a ruling by the Administrative Court, which was confirmed last November. The councilor explained that the delay in returning this amount, which she received as part of her salary between March 2020 and January 2022, is due to an administrative issue and her waiting for official communication from the City Council. Ms. Díaz stressed that she did not misuse any funds and has never refused to make the repayment.
The situation began in 2019 when an administrative error led to councilors receiving a two percent salary increase that was exclusively meant for civil servants. After being told about this mistake, the councilor asked the City Council for clear instructions on the procedure, amounts, and method for repayment. She claims that because she didn't get a response, she, along with Gloria Méndez (who was then the party's spokesperson), took the matter to the administrative court to get the payment conditions established. Ms. Díaz added that after the court's decision, she consulted with municipal legal services, who advised her to wait for formal notification before making the payment. She says this notification has not yet been sent.
Councilors in San Juan de la Rambla received this higher pay for twenty-three months, from March 2020 to January 2022, based on a 2019 council agreement. However, a municipal decree, dated May 8, 2023, stated that this increase was not appropriate for councilors, citing Article 77 of the General Budget Law. Consequently, the local government demanded that all councilors return the amounts they had received under this concept.
The demand for repayment by the local administration also extended to Gloria Méndez Quintero, who was the Socialist spokesperson at the time. She had to reimburse 1,799 euros, in addition to covering legal costs and interest. The court's decision concerning her case was made public at the end of 2024. Ms. Méndez, for her part, argued that the municipal decree was invalid, claiming that proper procedural rules were completely ignored when it was issued.
These events occurred during the term of the Socialist Municipal Government, with Fidela Velázquez and Jesús Ezequiel Domínguez leading the San Juan de la Rambla mayor's office. During that period, Councilor Díaz Bethencourt managed portfolios such as Youth, Equality, Women, and Senior Citizens. Currently, the PSOE (Socialist party), along with Nueva Canarias, forms the opposition on the Rambla council. The council is now governed by a three-party coalition consisting of Coalición Canaria, Asamblea Unificada del Pueblo-Sí se Puede (AUP-SSP), and Partido Popular, under the mayorship of nationalist Juan Ramos.