José María García Urbano, mayor of Estepona (PP), came to testify this Monday as being under investigation after a local police officer in the town filed a complaint against him for alleged sexual harassment committed against him and his companion. In his statement, he refused to answer questions from the prosecution and the plaintiff’s lawyer and only responded to his lawyer. He also did not respond to the media. When the judicial information became known, García Urbano sent a statement assuring that the complaint had a “false” aim and was part of a campaign aimed at tarnishing his personal dignity and his career as mayor.
The mayor had asked to declare himself “voluntarily and as soon as possible”, as he then explained. Judicial sources confirmed this Monday that the mayor declared himself “as an investigator”, so that he has the legal guarantees implied by this condition. Among other things, not testifying against himself or not answering the questions of the prosecutor or the complainant, as happened. In the coming days, the court, which has already heard the plaintiff ratify his complaint, will summon a witness.
The councilor reiterated that this is a false complaint, “unfounded”, and his defense will ask that the debates be archived, as reported in a note.
“He sought to satisfy his sexual desires by using his status as mayor”
The Estepona Court of Instruction 5 is investigating the complaint filed against the mayor by a local Estepona police officer, currently on leave for psychological reasons, for alleged events that occurred between March 2022 and June 2023 which allegedly violated his sexual freedom.
The complaint includes a series of behaviors of the mayor of Estepona (he has been mayor since 2011) with which he allegedly forced the complainant to have sexual relations under the threat that, if he did not accept, he would lose his job, implying also the partner of this one.
According to the manager’s account, the mayor made him feel “special treatment” since his arrival, “not consistent with the normal working relationships that a mayor can have with his officials.” This treatment implied “libidinous intent”. “It was proven that this attitude was due to the fact that the accused sought to satisfy his sexual desires by taking advantage of his status as mayor.”
This intention would have come to fruition in various hotels. According to the official, he accepted “for fear of losing his job and, therefore, no longer being able to provide for his family.” “If he wanted to keep his job, the plaintiff and his romantic partner had to accept his sexual perversions,” says the complaint, in which it is stated that the counselor “sought a lease” for them in an apartment in Estepona. . and he even offered the couple 2,000 euros per month so that they could spend “as much time as possible in Estepona”.
According to this story, when the complainant decided to end the situation, García Urbano responded “in a threatening tone” that “his position as a civil servant depended on him and that” if he did not play his role, his professional career was over forever and that “it was going to make his life impossible since he has contacts so he can’t work anywhere.”
The complaint was admitted for processing on October 28 and the complainant confirmed this, adding some details, in a statement via video conference a little over a week ago. After that, the court could file a complaint outright, if it finds no evidence of a crime, or agree to new proceedings. García Urbano asked to testify, he did so this Monday as an investigator, and the judge decided to continue the investigation by summoning a witness.
