El periódico económico más influyente del mundo analiza hoy la campaña electoral española. Habla del extremo endeudamiento de los ayuntamientos. Y encuentra un ejemplo: el de Jaén. El artículo completo lo puedes leer pinchando aquí. Habla de una deuda de 200 millones en la recogida de la basura, de una deuda reconocida de 127 millones que el partido conservador de la oposición cree que es mucho mayor, cuenta que las gasolineras no sirven a la Policía Local o a los bomberos, Bruno García (de Comercio Jaén) explica que las luces de las calles funcionan “de favor” porque no se paga y fuentes cercanas a la alcaldesa han explicado al periódico de NYC que Peñalver gestiona la deuda “lo mejor que puede”. A continuación pego los párrafos que se refieren a Jaén.

There are also signs of problems in the southern Andalucia region, where cites are, on average, 28 months late in paying their bills, according to Francisco Jardon, president of the trade association representing the largest municipal sanitation companies.

Jaen, a city of 117,000 nestled against steep hills in the olive-producing region, is one of the worst offenders. It owes its trash collection company €200 million, the result of debt that piled up for nearly a decade. The company, in turn, stopped paying its trash collectors late last year, triggering a strike that left mounds of garbage piling up in the town’s streets and squares.

In October, police and fire vehicles were left without fuel after the station that supplied them shut off its pumps in a demand for past-due payment.

The current Socialist administration of Jaen says it includes payments to suppliers in its deficit tally of around €127 million. The opposition conservative party, however, has maintained that debt is actually higher.

Bruno Garcia, who heads the city’s chamber of commerce, says he increasingly hears from companies that the government asks for “a loan of service” in which a supplier, such as a road maintenance company, performs services like replacing streetlights as a favor—but holds off on submitting a bill.

“There’s an effort not to formalize the debt,” he said.

A city hall spokeswoman declined to comment, except to say that the current mayor is managing the fiscal situation “as best she can.”