Yesterday we reported on the Balearic president Francina Armengol being caught drinking at 2a.m., well after the curfew by when all bars should be closed.
It has now been announced that officials have lost the paperwork relating to the Police issued late night sanction.
According to the allegations president Armengol went out for after-hours drinks on Wednesday, October 7, thereby breaching the strict hours curfews imposed by the Government that restrict bars from opening after 1am, or people entering bars after midnight. Even stricter controls are in place in local lockdown areas where bars must be closed by 10pm.
It was upon arrival that the agents recognized Armengol in the street, at the doors of the premises, along with other members of his cabinet. The socialist was not identified, nor were the clients they found inside and who were evicted before sealing the establishment. In such cases, only action is taken against the property of the establishment, which is the one that violates the hourly limits; the clientele is allowed to leave as a matter of course.
When the agents notified the owner that they were sealing the premises and that they were drawing up a sanction against him, the owner responded, in the presence of the president, that he “did not dare to close the bar with the president of the Government inside”.
After our Thursday morning report the owner of the bar stepped forward to say that the politicians had in fact left the bar at 1.15a.m. The businessman said that the politicians were regular customers and that they had left at 1.15a.m., but were still standing in the doorway of the bar at 2 a.m. when the Police arrived at the scene as one of them had fainted. He gave no further testimony as to why, over the course of 45 minutes, the person who had fainted had not been taken back into the bar to recover, or why medical attention had not been requested. Just that one of the politicians had fainted and so they had all stayed in the doorway for 45 minutes.
Then in a further twist to the tale, officials announced that they had lost the paperwork prepared by the police at the scene. The documentation detailed the infractions made by the bar in breaking the curfew regulations, and without it the Prosecutor cannot proceed with the case. It may be possible to take statements from the police who attended in lieu of the sanction documents.
Editor’s Comment: Seriously though, how can they say this and keep a straight face. The shame of it.
