Last Tuesday, several Endesa inspectors appeared at the monumental Xifré building in Arenys de Mar (Maresme) with the intention of interrupting the electricity supply after having confirmed a fraudulent connection in the electricity supply. The fraud was also located in three other municipally owned buildings.
The emblematic Xifré building in Arenys de Mar, municipally owned, converted for years into a hotel for entities, three years ago its electricity was out, for which reason it billed no more than a minimum estimate. Endesa verified that the complaint by a former municipal worker was substantiated and that the light had also been tapped in the Sert building, which houses the Salvador Espriu Documentation Center, the archive of the same center and the modules that house the City Council’s social services.
The Endesa technicians, however, were unable to proceed to cut off the electricity in Xifré because it is also the base for the SEM ambulances, which, as it is an emergency service, could not be without supply. Yes, they cut the power to the other three municipal premises. The fraud, following the established protocol, has been reported to the Mossos d’Esquadra.
The mayoress of Arenys de Mar, the Republican Annabel Moreno, described the events as “very serious” and reacted with indignation to order an investigation that points directly to the municipal technician, who in conversations with the mayor herself would have recognized the error of having processed the necessary documentation. to contract electrical service in the four buildings. Hence, an investigation has been ordered in which an attempt will be made to determine the responsibility of the official. For the moment, the Consistory must face the payment of at least three years before.
Endesa sources acknowledge that they cannot economically quantify the entirety of the defrauded energy since they must also open an investigation to find out how long it has been defrauded. In parallel, as is required in the action protocol, the electricity company has reported the facts to the Mossos d’Esquadra.
The system used to defraud the electrical flow, supposedly known by the technician responsible for the area, was the direct connection to the general connection, without going through a meter. In addition, the operators of the electricity company also detected other technical deficiencies in the installation, which could generate dangerous situations.
The first action with which the municipal government of Arenys de Mar will proceed is to negotiate the contracting of a new electrical connection to legalize the situation and agree on retroactive payments. The mayoress has asked Endesa for a comprehensive report on the irregularities committed in order to proceed accordingly. In parallel, the mayor’s office has urged the hiring of a generator to guarantee the supply of electricity to the facilities that have been interrupted.
On the other hand, the first investigations suggest that the irregularities could go back more than eleven years ago and that on some occasion, councilors from the area would have already warned of the illegality, without the technical manager having corrected it.
The Xifré building was donated to the population of Arenys de Mar by an Indian businessman to use it as a hospital, as it functioned until 1866. Later it was a school, preventorium and youth hostel between 1960 and 1980. Later it housed the High School, until 1989 and in 1990 it was the seat of the courts. The first irregularities can be located precisely at this time, when the building was the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice. Since 1996 it has housed the municipal workshop school, and several local entities and municipal services.
This is not the first time that Endesa has detected fraudulent connections in municipal facilities. One of those that called attention was that of the public school Josep Veciana de Perafort (Tarragona) that would have committed irregularities in the connection for 16 years, with the approval of the consistory.
In Catalonia, during 2022, Endesa filed 18,612 fraud files, of which 13,698 were located in the province of Barcelona. 746 were related to marijuana growing connections. Last year, 67,769 complaints for electricity fraud were received, which represents an average of 172. Of these, 21,195 inspections were derived, 75% more than in 2021. This 2023, according to sources from the electricity company, they expect to double these figures
