Valencian Architect Comes Under Fire
A recent piece in The Guardian ‘Architect Santiago Calatrava accused of 'bleeding Valencia dry’ the paper reported that Valencia’s most renowned architect has come under fire for payments he received from the government. As stated in The Guardian accusations are coming from the left-wing Esquerra Unida party who have set up a website: ‘calatravatelaclava’ which translates as ‘Calatrava bleeds you dry’. The left-wing party say they have uncovered records showing the council paid him over €100 million and that one of his most famous structures – The City of the Arts and Science complex – cost over €1.1 billion and is still to be completed. This failure they attribute to both the architect’s greed and to the regional government’s failure to control the cost. Born and raised in Valencia, Santiago Calatrava was very much a local hero and such revelations have disappointed many of his former admirers. He has hit back, saying that "The attitude of those who want to take advantage of the current economic climate to criticise a project whose benefits no one has challenged is simply indescribable,".
According to The Economist article: ‘The centre tries to hold’ Valencia is being held up as an example of the overspending by Spain’s regional governments. The centre-right People’s Party, in power since December 2011, have largely blamed the regions – who went over budget by an estimated €14 billion – for the country’s fiscal difficulties. The new Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is expected to exert his control over the regions, particularly in Valencia where his party has been in power for seventeen years.
The Guardian’s article alludes to the corruption in parts of Spanish society: ‘Calatrava's dazzling City of the Arts and Science, a series of space-age buildings in Valencia, is at the centre of the complaints about his dealings with a local government mired in corruption cases – none of which involve the architect.’
In my latest book ‘A Death in Valencia’ corruption in the city provides the backdrop to Chief Inspector Max Cámara’s latest case. Cámara uncovers property fraud, unfair demolitions and illegal urbanisations which impact on both his professional and private life.
