The music festival, scheduled for October 9 and financed by public money, was being prepared well before the Generalitat Valenciana granted the millionaire sponsorship of 3.3 million euros.
On August 2, the company The Music Republic SL registered the trademark “Som de la terreta” and the associated website, as verified by elDiario.es. However, it was not until September 25 (almost two months later) that the opening of the administrative file to ensure the legality of the procedure was approved.
In fact, the Generalitat promoted the festival and included in a press release the website to order tickets on September 19 (six days before the company was invited to participate in the negotiated procedure without advertising). On September 20, President Carlos Mazón published several videos on social networks in which he announced the concerts in València, Alicante and Vila-real and in which the “Som de la terreta” brand and the website appeared.
The Regional Executive drew a thousand double tickets and Mazón himself posted on social networks – on September 30 – a video of the draw moment. At the same time, the administrative procedures had just begun, while everything (the programming of the concerts, the sale and the drawing of tickets) was already more than prepared. According to the website, entries for the draw had been active since September 17, two days before the festival was announced.
The Presidency of the Generalitat, as reported by this newspaper, awarded the sponsorships through a negotiated procedure without advertising (by hand) with the emergency modality. The private contract between the Generalitat Valenciana and the company, worth a total of 3.3 million euros (VAT included), was signed on October 4, the day before the concerts.
The tender notice justifies the hand-picked procedure by the fact that Iron Stage SL “is the exclusive owner of the Som de la terreta brand”. However, the public file of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office indicates that it was registered by The Music Republic SL, promoter of events such as FIB, Festival de les Arts, Arenal Sound or Viña Rock, among other musical events. It is a company that shares its headquarters and representatives with Iron Stage SL, the company that appears in the private contract with the Presidency. The company was established on January 23. Both companies belong to Superstruct TMR Holding SL, the fund with 108 million euros in assets that bought the company The Music Republic SL several years ago from the brothers Toño and David Sánchez Sotillos, although both remain linked to management.
“Exclusive rights” to the event
The announcement of the price is limited to justifying the sponsorship of one million dollars by the fact that a single operator can execute the contract by holding the “exclusive rights” of intellectual and industrial property of the event. The documentation states that Iron Stage SL is the “exclusive owner” of the “Som de la terreta” trademark (even though it is registered to another company, The Music Republic SL). The brand, for which the company paid 127.88 euros for official registration, is currently being processed.
The private contract of the Generalitat with Iron Stage SL, signed the day before the concerts, refuses to establish a guarantee period “due to” its nature and characteristics, “since the service promised by the successful bidder is exhausted at the same moment”. that the benefit ends.
In the fourth clause, the contract provides that the Administration “will only be required” to pay the total price (3.3 million) “only if it is proven that the value of the advertising yield obtained reaches at least the amount of the budget of ‘attribution’. However, the contract does not specify how this value is credited. It will be necessary to see the specifications which, for the moment, do not appear on the public procurement platform.
The opposition requested the file but the Consell refused to hand it over, arguing that “it is still being processed”. This newspaper asked the Presidency, without receiving a response, for the technical specifications and the report justifying the award.
The autonomous department headed by Mazón has also not explained why the emergency procedure was used despite the fact that October 9 has been celebrated on the same day since 1338 (first centenary of the conquest of Valencia by James I ). After the celebration of the three concerts, Mazón expressed the Consell’s commitment to “consolidate” the “Som de la terreta” festival as a “musical reference” to celebrate October 9 in the years to come.
Sponsorships in the spotlight of PSPV and Compromís
The opposition keeps sponsorship contracts in its sights. Compromís, as announced by its administrator, Joan Baldoví, will take the case to the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, immersed in a controversy over the questioned role of its new director appointed by the PP and Vox. For its part, the attribution process “smells bad” for the PSPV-PSOE, according to its parliamentary spokesperson, José Muñoz, said on Tuesday.
For her part, the deputy spokesperson of the PP in Corts Valencianes, Laura Chulià, considered the participation in the three concerts of 50,000 people in total as a “resounding success”, according to data from the Generalitat Valenciana.
Chulià guaranteed that “when the programming is completed,” the file will be available to anyone who requests it, “as in any administrative procedure.”
