The Consell de Ibiza defends that, “in no case”, it contacted Republicana de Cine CB, the production company from Madrid that directed the advertising short film ‘La vida Islados‘. The executive producer of the short film, from Republicana de Cine CB, explained through a blog that it was the Consell de Ibiza who proposed this special tourism promotion campaign to them. However, a spokesman for the Consell de Ibiza denies this and explains that “the contact and proposal” was made with the then proxy and now also administrator of Fuera de Escena Ibiza, which was “the company with which the campaign proposal that was finally contracted was being negotiated”.
The spokesman points out that the institution proposed to Fuera de Escena Ibiza, when the campaign was being planned, the possibility of having a “renowned” director and even proposed the name of an Ibizan filmmaker who could not be hired because at that time he was working on another project.
Subsequently, according to the explanation by the Consell de Ibiza, Fuera de Escena proposed Fran Torres, who directed the famous spot by Estrella Damm on Formentera and who, according to the institution, worked exclusively with Republicana de Cine. “We knew that Fuera de Escena had to hire several companies to move the project forward. One of them was Republicana de Cine, but there were others”, he adds.
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office has filed in the Court of Instruction number 4 of Ibiza a complaint for the alleged crime of prevarication against the president, Vicent Marí, for the urgent contract during the state of alarm due to the pandemic, in June 2020, to the Ibizan company Fuera de Escena for the filming and production of the spot, with the aim of attracting tourists after the confinement and the closing of borders. The PSOE group in the Consell denounced before the Balearic Islands Anti-Corruption Bureau the alleged commission of crimes of coercion, embezzlement and false documentation. The office under the Parliament transferred the file to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office as it also saw alleged signs of crime.
Consell de Ibiza “favored a certain company”
Apart from accusing the Government’s team for failing to comply with the contracting procedure that determines the emergency procedure “favored a certain company”, the socialist group argues that “two allegedly falsified budgets were presented”, prepared “in collusion” between the two companies: Fuera de Escena and Republicana de Cine.
It should be noted that the controller of the Consell made a report of objection to the payment of the invoice of 167,257 euros to Fuera de Escena for the advertising short film and its broadcasting, as she acknowledged several irregularities in its processing, among them, the fact that it had not been justified if market prices had been applied.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.