Former Güímar Councillor Charged Over Illegal Police Overtime

Prosecutors are taking legal action against Cándido Gómez, the former Police Councillor for Güímar. He is accused of official misconduct and misusing public money. The charges stem from his approval of overtime payments to local police officers, even though he allegedly knew these payments didn't meet legal requirements.

The Prosecutor's Office claims officers were paid for extra work when they hadn't finished their standard shifts. This issue reportedly involves almost all of Güímar's local police force.

This legal action by the Prosecutor's Office follows a complaint filed on March 28 by Víctor González, who was, until recently, the local coordinator for the Popular Party and a key member of the PP within the municipal government. In his complaint, Prosecutor Adrián Campos states there is evidence the City Council suffered financial losses due to "improper actions"—specifically, decisions made "deliberately ignoring" regulations.

An investigation, supported by "excellent reports" from an expert technician, led the Prosecutor's Office to conclude that the then-municipal government (made up of CC-PSOE and USP) went over its budget to make these payments. They also paid officers for overtime "when they hadn't even completed their regular hours," wrongly classifying some of these payments as extra work.

The prosecutor also highlights "a long-standing, but improper practice" where officers work fewer hours than required. He finds it "surprising" and "deeply puzzling" that "arbitrary decisions," which he believes were made to maintain social peace, led to schedules that break the standard 37.5-hour work week. He argues that "bending the rules" in this way puts other municipal staff at a disadvantage and, "even worse, reinforces a sense of entitlement or power" among the police.

In the complaint, filed on the 10th, the Prosecutor's Office has asked the court to interview several individuals as witnesses: the City Council secretary, the Human Resources technician who wrote the report, the comptroller, and Gustavo Pérez, who was mayor at the time of the alleged incidents. Pérez is currently considered a witness.

Prosecutor Adrián Campos also expresses his "surprise" and "suspicion" that "even now," for the "same reasons"—to appease or reconcile with the Local Police—"the very situations being investigated today have reoccurred."

When he appeared before the Prosecutor's Office, Cándido Gómez claimed that approving these payments was "essential" because the officers had done the work. However, he failed to mention that some of these hours were actually part of their regular shifts.

On February 1st, the municipal government at the time—which was later removed by a vote of no confidence last August—approved a payment of 52,231 euros for overtime to the Güímar Local Police. This payment covered October, November, and December 2024 and was authorized by the Department of Finance.

The Prosecutor's Office estimates that "some officers owe more than 400 regular working hours." This raises the question of "how such a large amount of overtime could be paid to someone who still owes so many regular hours."

The Güímar Local Police's shift schedule, setting a 37.5-hour work week, was initially agreed upon by the full council on January 24, 2018. This was during the term of the PP and CC parties, with Luisi Castro (from the Popular Party) as mayor. The schedule included an adjustment day to balance the hours. Although the agreement was modified twice, most recently on March 27 this year, the standard annual working hours remained unchanged. However, technical reports indicate that officers and agents actually worked 35 hours, or 10 hours for night shifts instead of the established 15 hours for a standard daily shift.

The Prosecutor's Office believes the Local Police chief played a "decisive" role in allowing this fraud to happen. They also highlight that the only defendant, Cándido Gómez, "knowingly took the lead in proposing" the approval of these overtime payments, despite being fully aware of the situation.