The BNG denounces a “network of attributions” with contracts awarded “by hand” and “very suspicious”, worth almost a million euros, to a company linked to the brother of Nava Castro, and specifically highlights those carried out by the Galician Tourism Agency when it was in charge of this organization, for around 800,000 euros. Castro, current mayor of Ponteareas, defends “the legality” of all these contracts. In statements to Europa Press, he describes the Bloc’s accusation as “torticera” and attributes it to the results of the municipal elections in the city of Pontevedra where he governs.
The Bloc’s vice-spokesperson, Luís Bará, spoke to the media this Friday about a “network of rewards to a company directly linked to the circle of PP leaders.” According to him, the nationalist formation has “the certainty and knowledge that one of Nava Castro’s brothers, Antonio Castro Domínguez, is a worker, works for Dos Espacios and owns a company based in the same building, at the same number, Serrano Street in Madrid. When questioned, Nava Castro herself indicated that Antonio Castro, one of her ten brothers, “does not work” in this company, but “has his own business” and “works in complete freedom of market with whomever he wants.” .
When asked if he worked with Dos Espacios, he said he did not know, although sources at that company consulted by Ep acknowledged Antonio Castro’s connection to Dos Espacios. According to Bará, this company is based in Vilagarcía and other localities, and from 2018 to 2023 it received almost a million euros – approximately 995,000 euros – in 87 “handmade” contracts, in a list of contracts that the Bloc provided to the press. The company, continued Bará, “is dedicated to consulting and communication work” and the Galician Tourism Agency, “under the leadership of Nava Castro”, has signed 63 contracts with it, according to the BNG, for around 800,000 euros, or for an average value of around 12,000 euros.
In this process, the nationalists warn, Emilio de la Iglesia, then director of the Agency and later “rewarded with the position of chief of staff of the President of the Xunta and recently promoted to general director of the presidential cabinet, had a “ key role » “participation. of the Xunta. In summary, indicated that contracts with the company “are increasing exponentially of the appointment of Nava Castro and then Emilio de la Iglesia as manager.” Bará focuses on “aspects” that he considers “catchy”, such as the fact that “all” contracts have a duration of execution of ‘one month, which makes them minor contracts and “therefore of poor quality” Sometimes, he adds, he clearly sees a fragmentation into two contracts to avoid moving to an open procurement procedure.
Another “suspicious” fact, according to Bará: “When Nava Castro assumes the office of mayor, it turns out that he hires this company, with his greatest confidence (…) And what is extraordinarily serious is that he pays him a bill for 10,000 euros at the end of 2023. an activity, an event, which has never been carried out,” he declared. Finally, he announced that your group would register the request for information on these contracts by Article 9 of the Rules of Procedure of Parliament. “We want to know the documentation provided by this company, whether they are real or fictitious contracts,” he added.
The mayor defends herself
Asked by Ep, Nava Castro emphasized that the company where her brother works “sells services to any company.” “I have ten brothers. Logically, I don’t ask them professionally what they do on a daily basis,” he said. “Legal reports must be prepared and contracts are public,” He added, rejecting that the nationalists are “trying to tie Dos Espacios in this tortuous way.” “It seems excessive to me,” he said.
With this in mind, he deepened the fact that in tourism “many companies are working” and “everything is subject to tender”; and questioned about the minor contracts denounced by the Bloc, Nava Castro affirmed that “everything goes with a legal relationship.” Finally, he assured that Dos Espacios “also works” with the special state delegate in the Free Zone of Vigo, David Regades, and with municipalities like Catoira, Pontecesures and Pontevedra. “You have the freedom to work with whoever you want. The town halls of the PP, PSOE and BNG,” he added, concluding that “since the BNG lost the elections in Ponteareas, it bothers them.” “That’s why the target is me “, he said.
