The Valsequillo City Council has settled a debt with suppliers this June amounting to 1,740,454 euros, according to the current governing group. These invoices, originating from the previous municipal executive, were paid as a key commitment after the new government pact took office. Mayor Juan Carlos Hernández Atta emphasized the priority of "responding" to companies that had provided services to the City Council, many of them based in the municipality itself, stating: "The companies that provide services to this council have every right to be paid for the work done. We could not allow them to continue bearing the cost of the previous paralysis."
To process these payments, the municipal intervention department reviewed and technically validated over 600 invoices that, according to the local government, remained unprocessed. Five Omission of Fiscalizing Duty (OFI) proceedings were initiated between November 2025 and March 2026 to recognize these obligations and unblock payments. Despite these efforts, approximately 30 invoices are still pending due to formal defects and will be paid once the detected technical issues are resolved.
The Councilor for Economy and Finance, Víctor Navarro, addressed criticism from the opposition regarding alleged delays in current payments, explaining that the current treasury could not be managed normally until the previous debt was settled. "Paco Atta knows perfectly well that, by strict legal procedure, until we paid and settled the millionaire debt they left us, the administration could not face the treasury generated by current services. Once this burden is lifted, we will fully focus on the suppliers of the new fiscal year," he stated.
The municipal government also reports that over 150,000 euros in invoices cannot be paid through administrative channels because the legal claim period of four years has expired. Some of these invoices date back to 2013. The City Council asserts that affected companies must now pursue legal action through claims for unjust enrichment to try to recover the money for services rendered. Navarro criticized the "absolute neglect" and "completely arbitrary management" of the previous government for leaving unpaid invoices in "drawers" until the administrative claim deadlines passed.
The recognition of these overdue invoices is expected to increase the Average Payment Period to Suppliers (PMPP). Navarro argues that this increase will be a genuine reflection of the pending debt being brought to light, rather than an attempt to conceal it. "It is a figure that does not worry us, because from now on the number will be one hundred percent real. We are not going to hide or leave invoices uncounted in drawers to artificially improve the PMPP," he assured. Data for the first quarter is already available on the municipal transparency portal.
Mayor Juan Carlos Hernández Atta frames this payment within the "path of order" announced after the motion of no confidence in November. "We do not have a magic wand to solve problems, but through hard work, order, and rigorous administrative procedures, results will come," he stated. The local government believes that regularizing this debt will help regain the trust of companies and suppliers, after accumulated delays had caused some to stop working with the City Council. The administration aims to move from a model based on verbal orders and pending invoices to one that tenders services and guarantees budgetary support from the outset.
