By David Jackson
The economic crisis affecting water company Galasa was laid bare last week after electricity was cut off to its offices.
Visitors to its Vera headquarters complained of a loud generator which is providing electricity to the workers inside. Power company Endesa confirmed it had cut off supplies to the company after its unpaid bill reached €1.5m.
Galasa is the publicly owned water company formed in 1989 by the provincial council and local towns. The company is running at a loss, and has a reported debt of more than €37 million, which detractors say is caused entirely by bad management.
The company is politically controlled. Gabriel Amat (Partido Popular) is the president of the company, and is also the president of the provincial council, as well as being the mayor of Roquetas de Mar. Vice-President Javier García (PP) holds the same position in the provincial council, which owns 53 per cent of the shares of the company, the rest being owned by the towns that make up the company’s clients.
