Montero Aramburu & GVA in the Aznalcóllar Mines case

The Third Chamber of the Provincial Court of Seville has acquitted the ten officials of the Andalusian Regional Government defended by Montero Aramburu & Gómez-Villares Atencia in the so-called Aznalcóllar Mines case.

The court concluded that there was no evidence of the crimes attributed to them—including influence peddling, prevarication, embezzlement and fraud—and considered that the charges brought against them lacked probative value. The ruling expressly highlights the professionalism and impartiality of the technicians and civil servants involved in the public tender for the award of the mining concession, rejecting any suggestion of influence or collusion in the administrative process.

The ruling brings to an end proceedings that have lasted several years and whose oral hearing took place over 36 sessions. In it, the Court emphasises the lack of evidence to infer irregularities in the actions of the members of the Contracting Committee and the Technical Commission, as well as the consistency of the expert reports that endorsed the correctness of the procedure followed.

The legal defence was led by lawyers Encarnación Molino Barrero and Luis Aparicio Díaz, from the Criminal and Procedural Law Department.