A Palma court admits the Prosecutor's Office lawsuit against Bestard for the official cars case

PalmaA court of the Investigation Section of the Palma Court of Instance has admitted for processing the Prosecutor's Office's lawsuit against the second vice president of the Council of Mallorca, Pedro Bestard (Vox), for an alleged crime of embezzlement related to the use of official vehicles, as reported by Diario de Mallorca.

The Prosecutor's Office lawsuit, filed at the end of October, stems from a complaint by the PSIB regarding the alleged private use of the institution's cars by the Vox councilor. After investigating the facts, the Public Prosecutor's Office considered that there was sufficient evidence to file a lawsuit for embezzlement.

The magistrate will now have to inform Bestard that he has the status of being under investigation and summon him to testify, on a date yet to be determined. The Council of Mallorca will also be able to decide now whether to appear in the case as an injured party.

In the complaint, the socialists accused Bestard, who is also the Councilor for the Environment, Rural Environment and Sports, of having repeatedly and exclusively used three Council vehicles for private travel, with the corresponding expenses for fuel and other consumption, and without authorization.

The case became public last May, when the president of the Council, Llorenç Galmés, ordered the preparation of internal technical reports. The report from the Council's Technical Secretariat pointed out that Pedro Bestard had three official cars at his exclusive disposal while 19 department vehicles were unused. Some had been purchased to renew the fleet and serve the brigades, but they remained reserved for the councilor. The document also questioned fuel refueling on Sundays and outside working hours, as well as trips that could not be clearly linked to official acts.

Subsequently, the island government ruled out taking measures against Bestard and considered the case closed with an internal instruction to regulate the use of official vehicles.

The PSIB asks Feijóo to intervene

After the admission for processing of the lawsuit was made public, the Socialist spokesperson at the Council, Catalina Cladera, demanded that Bestard resign immediately. “There is no other choice but for Bestard to resign now,” she said, and asked the institution governed by the PP and Vox to take measures because “it cannot be tainted by a corruption case.”

Cladera also urged the PP to act and stated that the Council will appear in the case. “The PP cannot have collusion, complicity with a corrupt party of which it is a partner in this institution,” she said. Furthermore, she demanded that Alberto Núñez Feijóo take measures today: “He cannot have a corrupt high-ranking official in an institution for a minute longer.”

Moments before learning of the judicial decision, Bestard refused to resign at the Council plenary session. In response to a question from MÉS per Mallorca about when he planned to leave office, he replied: “I do not intend to resign, period,” he said.