The Tribunal de Instancia número 5 de Segovia has, in a ruling dated 1 September 2026, continued the preliminary investigation into the former mayor of Real Sitio de San Ildefonso, José Luis Vázquez, who was mayor from 2007 to 2019 and a former member of the Cortes de Castilla y León is suspected of prevaricación administrativa (administrative misconduct) and malversación de caudales públicos (misappropriation of public funds). The court also ordered that the public prosecutor’s office (Ministerio Fiscal) be asked to give its view on whether to open the next stage of proceedings.
According to the court’s statement, the investigation concerns several administrative decisions made during Vázquez’s term: certain appointments of municipal employees, the allocation of duties and remuneration, the award of specific services, and the authorisation of payments despite objections from the Intervención municipal (municipal audit office). Examination of the documents gathered so far was said to justify continuing the proceedings.
According to consistent reports, proceedings against the incumbent mayor of La Granja de San Ildefonso, Samuel Alonso, who had been investigated in the same case, were also discontinued. The proceedings are therefore focused on possible breaches of duty during Vázquez’s term.
The case has a long history. It began with allegations of irregularities in municipal personnel decisions and service contracts. Because he then had parliamentary immunity as a procurador, part of the investigation was temporarily transferred in 2025 to the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Castilla y León . After his term ended, the case returned to the court in Segovia. Vázquez resigned his seat in the Cortes de Castilla y León in October 2025.
The case remains at the investigation stage; no charges have yet been brought. With its latest decision, the court has paved the way for possible proceedings under the rules for an expedited procedure, which the Ministerio Fiscal must first decide whether to initiate. If the public prosecutor’s office seeks apertura de juicio oral and the court agrees, the case would move to the next stage of proceedings. Until then, the presumption of innocence applies. Neither Vázquez nor his defence had issued any new statements by Tuesday.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).