Walter Finch
If you are affected by the topics raised in this article or need help with suicidal thoughts, call the Samaritans in Spain on +34 900 525 100
THE policeman at the heart of sexual abuse allegations against one of Andalucia’s most prominent mayors told a judge he would ‘shoot himself’ before going back to work for ‘that man’.
The alleged victim, who has been on mental health leave since July 2023, has ‘already been talked out of shooting himself on two separate occasions’, a legal source close to the case told the Olive Press.
The Policia Local officer told a court how Estepona’s leader and ‘future mayor of Malaga’ Jose Garcia Urbano launched an alleged campaign of sexual harassment against him and later his wife from May 2022.
The revelation comes after Urbano attended court to make a statement last week as a ‘suspect’ – and not voluntarily, as he had claimed.
The mayor refused to answer questions however, from either the prosecutor or the victim’s lawyer, before stonewalling the assembled press pack outside the courtroom.
Later, during an official town hall meeting, Opposition PSOE councillor Emma Molina asked the mayor if he had considered ‘stepping down’.
She described his failure as ‘unethical’ and said that the local residents were ‘talking about it in the streets’ and demanding urgent answers.
“Don’t you think refusing to answer the prosecution obstructs the search for the truth?” she added.
He angrily replied that he would not step down over a case that he dubbed as ‘political’ and was merely aimed to tarnish his reputation.
The pressure is growing on the mayor, particularly as further witnesses will give evidence next week.
“Be assured that I will only withdraw from political life when I consider that I have fulfilled my function, my duty and my obligation to the town, or when the people want me to,” Urbano, 61, responded.
“I will not step down for any other reason, and certainly not one of a political nature like the one you are referring to.”
The mayor also dodged a series of questions about his conduct during a grilling from opposition councillors.
“Why, Mr Mayor, did you decide not to answer the questions of the prosecution and the lawyer for the prosecution?” she began.
“Are you willing to explain why you lied publically when you said that you were going to testify voluntarily when in reality you did so as a suspect, given that it is the only option open to you to exercise your right not to testify?”
“Do you not believe that refusing to answer the prosecution obstructs the legal process and the search for the truth, when you should be the first party interested in clarifying the alleged facts you are accused of?”
She suggested that dodging questions from the prosecutor ‘could be a strategy to avoid giving direct explanations.’
The councillor implored the mayor to at least provide an explanation to the ‘concerned citizens of Estepona who are already discussing the issue in the streets.’
“If you don’t do so, you will be defrauding them of their trust.”
The complainant’s lawyer, Antonio Granados Caballero, told the Olive Press that a number of corroborating videos have been submitted to the court.
“The next step is for a witness to give a statement to the court on Monday,” he said.
“Then we wait to see if the judge asks for any more evidence and then files a prosecution order against the mayor.”
According to the victim complaint, events began at the Parador de Málaga Golf Club, when the victim caught the eye of Urbano.
Over the course of 15 months, the mayor is accused of pressuring the policeman and his wife into sexual relations, employing both threats and inducements.
“From the very beginning, he felt that the accused was looking at him and talking to him in a special way, not in accordance with the normal working relationship that a mayor can have with his officials,” the complaint reads.
It describes the ‘libidinous intent’ the mayor had towards the young policeman.
“The latter, unable to believe what he was hearing, and with deep fear (in case such rejection could affect his job (he has two young children)), had no other choice but to accede to Mr. García Urbano’s sexual demands.
“In all the episodes, the complainant had to accede to the sexual demands of the accused for fear of losing his job and, as a consequence, not being able to support his family,” the complaint states.
But threats and pressure were not Garcia Urbano’s only tool, according to the document.
He offered the victim and his wife, who live in Cordoba, a helping hand of €2,000 a month and the promise of an apartment in Estepona to ‘continue satisfying his sexual desires.’
After this arrangement had been set up, García Urbano allegedly contacted the complainant ‘insistently and daily,’ in order to continue the sexual tryst with both him and his wife.
The mayor went so far as to say that ‘if he didn’t play along, his professional career was over forever’ and that ‘he was going to make his life impossible, since he has contacts that prevent him from working anywhere,’ according to the complaint.
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“Feeling humiliated, [Garcia Urbano] ordered him to strip naked to have sex with him. [The victim] refused to do so, but Mr. García Urbano repeated to him that, if he didn’t, he would lose his job,” it continues.
It also alleged that García Urbano gave the victim ‘some blue pills’ in order to be able to fulfil his orders.
The employee, who is currently in Cordoba and on ‘mental health leave’, claims he faced the ‘sexual harassment’ between March 2022 and June 2023.
He had only recently taken a job with the town’s local police force, according to reports.
The allegations come as a bombshell for the high-flying former lawyer and notary, who has been tipped by many for the top job at the Junta.
The mayor – who gained a record 69.4% of votes in the 2019 elections – has denied the claims.
“It is an inexcusable and unjust campaign to damage my personal dignity and my trajectory with a clear and spurious goal,” he insisted in a statement earlier this month.
Have you had personal dealings with the Estepona mayor? Contact newsdesk@theolivepress.es
