Canary Islands government paid its health minister's ex to 'Confine immigrants'

The Investigation Committee of the Canary Islands Parliament on Covid-19 medical supply contracts carried out by the regional government of the current Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, began its work on July 1. The hearings scheduled over the coming weeks will aim to clarify the 'Koldo' case and the 'Mascarillas-PCR Canarias' case, uncovered by elcierredigital.com in March 2022.

In the Investigation Committee set up for these same cases in the Senate, the former Health Minister of the Canary Islands Government, Teresa Cruz Oval, appeared last June and answered questions from the Partido Popular, stating that she had stopped "the appointment of Conrado Domínguez—charged with malfeasance and influence peddling in the Mascarillas case—as director of the Canary Islands Health Service because she considered him a poor manager." It should be noted that Cruz is proposed by the Investigation Committee of the Canary Islands Parliament.

However, after Cruz was dismissed as Health Minister in March 2020, Torres's Canary Islands executive approved during the pandemic a series of contracts to house immigrants for Covid-19 quarantine in the so-called 'Noah's Arks', as revealed by elcierredigital.com. Thus, in 2021, the Canary Islands government contracted the company owned by Teresa Cruz's own partner, Félix Guillermo Rodríguez Rojas—apparently separated at present, according to sources close to the councilor—who obtained up to six contracts totaling €464,000.

These direct awards to Rojas's company, Viajes al Paraíso Canarias SL, were made through the Tenerife Health Area Directorate, which is part of the Canary Islands Health Service of the Health Ministry, an entity presided over by Teresa Cruz from 2019 until her dismissal in 2020, under Torres's government.

It should be highlighted that at the time of this direct contract, the director of the SCS was Conrado Domínguez, whom Cruz described as a "fixer" in the aforementioned Senate Committee.

Elcierredigital.com revealed that Torres's Canary Islands executive paid for these accommodations at a cost of €2,787,914 (about $3,070,000) between 2021 and 2022. Thus, in a government record of Torres's administration, payments of €709,244.99 (about $781,000) for these accommodations are recorded. In another document issued by the Canary Islands Government in 2021—published by our newspaper—regarding payments to various entities to cover the Noah's Arks, an amount of €2,078,669.36 (about $2,293,000) is listed.

The aforementioned record from the Presidency of the Canary Islands Government states—in a session on February 1, 2023—that Torres's Canary Islands government approved €709,244.99 (about $781,000) for the Noah's Arks, charged to the General Budget of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, without using European funds. Of this amount, €464,000 (about $510,000) was allocated to six contracts with the company Viajes al Paraíso Canarias SL.

According to the Official Gazette of the Mercantile Registry—as consulted by this newspaper—the sole administrator is Félix Guillermo Rodríguez Rojas, the former partner of the person who was Health Minister when the pandemic began, Teresa Cruz.

The record of the Canary Islands executive details how the €709,244.99 (about $781,000) was distributed: Rojas's company, Viajes al Paraíso Canarias SL, received €464,021.55 (about $510,000); Bares y Restaurantes del Sur SL, received €64,424.70 (about $71,000); Meeting Point Hotel Management Canarias SL, €12,850 (about $14,000); Cruz Roja Española, €122,343.60 (about $133,000); and EULEN Servicios Sociosanitarios SA invoiced €45,604.28 (about $50,000).

That is, Rojas's company was the main beneficiary of these direct awards without a public tender, as indicated by the State Contracting Portal consulted by El Cierre Digital.

Rojas Created The Company And Obtained These Direct Awards From Torres's Government

According to the Official Gazette of the Mercantile Registry, the company Viajes al Paraíso Canarias SL was established on April 28, 2021, shortly before it began invoicing for the Noah's Arks contracts with the Canary Islands Government. Viajes al Paraíso Canarias SL submitted invoices from the last quarter of 2021 until March 2022. In just six months this company obtained €464,021.55 (about $510,000) from public funds belonging to the Health Ministry.

The €464,021.55 (about $510,000) correspond to six direct contracts: €89,462.70 (about $98,000) for isolation accommodation in September 2021; €62,643.15 (about $69,000) in November 2021; €71,695.35 (about $79,000) in December 2021; €83,781 (about $92,000) in January 2022; €67,024.80 (about $74,000) in February 2022; and €27,252.90 (about $30,000) in March 2022.

Meanwhile, as stated in the Mercantile Registry, Viajes al Paraíso Canarias SL's purpose is "the rental of vehicles with or without a driver, contracted with duly authorized companies, reservation, purchase and sale of tickets or admissions to all kinds of cultural, sports or leisure events, museums, monuments, and rental of tools and equipment." The registered office is at Caleta María Luisa 4, located in Abades-Arico, in the south of Tenerife.

Nevertheless, Félix Guillermo Rodríguez Rojas is known in Tenerife as the journalist Félix Rojas and, currently, is director of El Digital de Canarias. In addition, according to a record from the Arona City Council accessed by elcierredigital.com, Rojas was appointed by the former socialist mayor, José Julián Mena, as a trusted staff member in a vacant councilor advisor position in August 2020.

Elcierredigital.com has contacted Félix Rojas but has not yet received a response from him.

The 'Noah's Ark' For Immigrants Was Funded With Canary Islands Budgets

As shown by the State Contracting Portal, the Tenerife Health Area Directorate, part of the Canary Islands Health Service and directed by Conrado Domínguez, contracted the Noah's Ark accommodations with the company Viajes al Paraíso Canarias SL during the 2021-2022 period through a negotiated procedure without publicity, as an emergency and without taxes.

The purpose of these COVID-19 Emergency contracts was to provide accommodation for the isolation of immigrants and socially vulnerable people affected by Covid-19 on the island of Tenerife. These contracts were charged to the General Budget of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, without using European Union funds.

The Business Network Of The Former Socialist Minister's Partner

Félix Guillermo Rodríguez Rojas is the sole administrator of two other companies at the same registered office as Viajes al Paraíso Canarias SL. Meanwhile, the company Consulting and Advanting SL was created on April 6, 2021, and its purpose is "the organization and sale of so-called one-day excursions offered by the agency or planned at the request of the tourist user for a set global price, and which do not include all the elements of a package tour."

Rojas also manages the entity Buscando Oportunidades SL, which is dedicated to "real estate development, purchase or sale of real estate and parts of real estate in its own name and on its own account, as well as the units that organize the construction, subdivision, urbanization of accommodations, all with the aim of selling them."

Finally, after the resignation of Zebenzui Amador Sosa, Rojas assumed the administration of his fourth company, Eco Mente SL, on February 21, 2022, located at Ana María 2, in Santiago del Teide. This entity develops "the activity of exploitation, development, and rental of all types of transport elements with or without a motor, or electric, such as bicycles, skates, scooters and any other related to these elements, and the development of repair, maintenance and cleaning activities."

More than a year after the publication of this article, elcierredigital.com received a letter dated May 5 signed by Teresa Cruz. In it, she requests the publication of her version of the facts. From our newspaper, we invoke Organic Law 2/1984, of March 26, and thus publish the requested statement below:

1. I did not hold any position at the time of the events. I ceased to be Health Minister of the Canary Islands Government on March 25, 2020. The contracts mentioned in your article are subsequent and, therefore, absolutely unrelated to me institutionally, personally, and professionally.

2. I do not have, nor have I ever had, any involvement in the awarded company. The company referred to in your article has never been under my ownership, management, or control. I have also not participated in any way in the contracting processes mentioned. The reference to the fact that the administrator was once my husband (with whom I have had no personal or family relationship for years) is entirely irrelevant legally and journalistically.

3. The insinuation of favoritism is unfounded and offensive. By mentioning my name in the headline and connecting my former position with contracts in which I had no involvement, an implicit suggestion is made of irregular conduct or a conflict of interest. Such insinuation, made without basis or verification, seriously undermines my honor and violates current regulations.