By David Jackson
The largest corruption case of the province, Operación Poniente, is about to come to trial seven years and two months to the day after the investigation started.
The investigation centres on the ex-mayor of El Ejido, Juan Enciso, and his budget controller José Alemán, who stand accused of masterminding a network of companies that siphoned off tens of millions of euros from council coffers via fake work contracts.
Now, Judge Jesús Hernández has closed the prosecution file and announced the case is ready for trial.
More than 300,000 pages of evidence have been prepared by the judge and his team. Out of the original 78 people charged, nine have since been released from trial and four more have died.
