The public prosecutor’s office is seeking a prison sentence of one year and eleven months for Estepona’s mayor, José María García Urbano (PP), over the alleged offences of perverting the course of justice and embezzlement, according to SUR, which has seen the prosecutor’s provisional conclusions filed with the Estepona magistrates’ court.
The prosecutor also asks that he be disqualified from standing for election, and from holding public office or employment, for five years and eleven months. These are provisional requests, and none of the allegations has been proven.
The case concerns the appointment in February 2023 of a woman, identified only as C.P.B., to a position of trust at the town hall for two months. According to the prosecutor’s submission, the mayor was in “a romantic relationship” with her and made the appointment knowing she would carry out no work, to the detriment of municipal assets.
The submission says that after the proceedings began García Urbano paid the town hall €5,276.92, the net wages she received, and in June 2026 paid €2,589.97 to social security for the contributions on those wages. The prosecutor says these payments settled all the costs arising from the arrangement.
The request is lower than the one made when the case was heading for a jury trial, when the prosecutor sought five and a half years in prison and a ten-year ban. The mayor appealed, and the court ruled that he will be tried by a professional court.
The prosecutor treats C.P.B. as a cooperating accomplice in the alleged offences and seeks four years and six months in prison and an eight-year ban on holding public office or employment.
The PSOE, acting as a private prosecutor, is seeking five years and six months in prison and a ten-year ban for the mayor, and two years in prison and a six-year ban for C.P.B.
According to sources consulted by SUR, the mayor’s defence disagrees with the court order and will appeal, arguing there is no evidence of a criminal offence to justify continuing the case. It says municipal human resources reports confirm the duties carried out in the post, that witnesses spoke to her attendance and work, and that the court order itself acknowledges her presence at the town hall. The defence says it is convinced the proceedings will show the accusations to be false. No verdict has been given.
(Updated 23 October 2026: this article has been corrected to make clear that the prosecutor is seeking, not imposing, a sentence, to attribute all allegations to the prosecution, and to correct the charges, figures and the defence’s position.)
