Santiago Calatrava defends his Valencia building fees
Renowned architect answers charges by opposition lawmaker over cost of projects
Renowned Valencia architect Santiago Calatrava said Sunday that the money he made from designing the city's acclaimed Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències, which was about 94 million euros, was "audited" and "adjusted correctly" since the first day of signing the contract.
In a press statement, Calatrava was answering charges by opposition lawmaker Ignacio Blanco from the Valencia Nationalist Bloc EUPV that the architect charged some 12.5 percent of the total cost of the project. In some cases, Blanco said, Calatrava's earnings rose by more than 400 percent.
Calatrava said that in 20 years no one has questioned his fees as "abusive" or against the public's interest and said that some lawmakers were taking advantage of the region's financial problems to bring up it now.