Calatrava was paid 15 million euros for non-existent Valencia towers
Regional government insists scheme is a useful investment; prosecutors say there is no proof of wrongdoing
The Valencia government, then presided by the Popular Party's (PP) Francisco Camps, who later resigned and awaits trial for his part in the Gürtel corruption scandal, paid architect Santiago Calatrava over 15 million euros for three skyscrapers near the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias that will likely never be built, the provincial court has found.
The payment was confirmed by regional government spokeswoman Lola Johnson, who justified the payments for the project as a "property asset" that can be used or sold. Prosecutors will not pursue the case, brought by deputies of Esquerra Unida, because there is no evidence of misappropriation of public funds. Johnson noted that work has been halted on the project but that "at any moment the economic situation could bring us to a point where we decide to move ahead or to sell."
Calatrava's office declined to comment. The court report states that the architect received an advance payment of 2.6 million euros on September 30, 2005, 137,000 euros on August 30, 2006 for models and plans of the towers, and two later payments of 6.2 million euros each for pre-project and drafting work, a total of 15.2 million. The Socialist regional spokeswoman for infrastructure, Eva Martínez, asked current PP regional premier Alberto Fabra to begin legal proceedings to recover the money from Calatrava.
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