This is Gustavo Matos, former right-hand man of Minister Ángel Víctor Torres: his scandals

The second vice president of the Parliament of the Canary Islands, Gustavo Matos, who was a trusted man in PSOE Canarias, of the current Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, has distanced himself from the drug trafficking network located in Tenerife, which is being investigated by the National Police's Internal Affairs. This network has been attributed to the retired chief inspector, Francisco Moar, and the Lebanese, Mohamed Derbah, who is in prison.

Matos has expressed that he has kept conversations with the federal organization secretary general of PSOE, Santos Cerdán, and his regional socialist secretary in the Canary Islands, Nira Fierro, who support him. "No one from PSOE has asked me to resign or leave my public positions." He also noted that he has not yet discussed this matter with Minister Torres.

Matos, who was president of the Parliament of the Canary Islands during Torres's term as president of the Government of the Canary Islands, has declared that he "is not summoned, nor investigated in this drug trafficking matter, nor has he had any personal, professional, or economic relationship with Derbah."

Similarly, Matos has stated that "I seem to recall that Derbah is the owner of a hotel complex in the South of Tenerife that he made available to the Government of the Canary Islands to house immigrants during the pandemic."

As revealed by El Cierre Digital, this accommodation mentioned by Matos, the Apartahotel La Pondeorsa, which was searched by the Police as part of this anti-drug operation, appears in contracts made by the Canary Health Service in the 'Arcas de Noé' project.

These awards to La Ponderosa were tendered under Torres's mandate, with Conrado Domínguez as director of the SCS, who resigned from this position and is currently being investigated by the European Public Prosecutor's Office in the Damco and RR7 mask cases, as our newspaper uncovered.

The Apartahotel La Ponderosa obtained various contracts from the Government of the Canary Islands, through the companies Bares y Restaurantes Sur SL, -founded by Derbah in 2018-, and Viajes al Paraiso Canarias SL, for a total amount of around one million euros.

Meanwhile, Gustavo Matos, during his time as president of the Canary parliament, is mentioned in the complaints about the million-dollar awards of medical supplies approved by the Government of Ángel Víctor Torres, as revealed by El Cierre Digital in March 2022. The Parliament of the Canary Islands had the power to approve public spending, therefore, in the complaints before the European Prosecutor's Office, this fact was noted.

"LET'S NOT BE HYPOCRITES IN TENERIFE, IT'S NORMAL TO HAVE A COFFEE WITH DERBAH"

During the press conference followed by El Cierre Digital offered in the Parliament of the Canary Islands, by Gustavo Matos, -after the publication by El Mundo of a police report on this drug trafficking operation in Tenerife-, this socialist deputy has expressed: "Let's not be hypocrites on the island of Tenerife, everyone knows this gentleman, -Mohamed Derbah-, I'm not the only person who has been associated with him, -among other politicians, businessmen, and journalists-, having a coffee with him is not rare or strange in Tenerife society."

However, this deputy has stated that "Derbah contacted him to tell him about a very serious matter, they met at El Corte Inglés in January 2025, along with Derbah's lawyer, -without specifically identifying the investigated police officer Francisco Moar in that meeting-, where they were shown some videos in which allegedly some plainclothes police officers commit irregularities in Derbah's premises."

In such a situation, Matos argues that "he informed the Government's sub-delegate in Tenerife about this information.- provided by Derbah and his lawyer-, who confirmed to him that there was an ongoing investigation." Additionally, he has highlighted an official statement from the Police, confirming that Matos is not part of this Internal Affairs investigation.

MATOS CLAIMS "TO BELONG TO A MASONIC LODGE IN LAS PALMAS, AND DERBAH WEARS 'MASONIC' ATTIRE"

During an interview given by Gustavo Matos during his time as president of the Parliament of the Canary Islands, collected by Diario de Avisos in 2020, this socialist deputy acknowledges his support for the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and states, "I am a mason. I belong to a lodge in Las Palmas, and I am very proud of that condition."

Additionally, Matos has participated alongside the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, in the presentation of a book on Freemasonry in the Canary archipelago, held in the Parliament of the Canary Islands in December 2023,

It is worth remembering the judicial operation carried out by the former judge Baltasar Garzón in 2001, in relation to an alleged apartment scam in which Mohamed Derbah was in prison for a few months. It was when El País published an image in 2002, in which the Lebanese appears "dressed in the uniform of the lodge that Derbah had created, and poses during a visit, several years ago to Lebanon," according to this newspaper.

Sources from the Spanish Grand Lodge consulted by El Cierre Digital, state that "the attire shown by Derbah could have Masonic symbolism related to Freemasonry practiced in England." They also indicate that, currently, "Freemasonry in Spain is going through an internal crisis due to the presence of lodge members holding public positions, as the Spanish Grand Lodge was born as an independent entity from political activity and with altruistic purposes to help society." "Some members express their disagreement regarding belonging to both activities, Masonic and public positions."

MATOS, A HISTORIC FIGURE OF PSOE CANARIAS

Gustavo Matos has recalled that he is a lawyer and politician in PSOE for more than twenty years, "with an impeccable career in his political trajectory." This regional deputy currently was also the general director of Commerce and Consumption of the Government of the Canary Islands from 2011 to 2015, and a councilor of the La Laguna city council from 1999 to 2011.

Matos is the son of a socialist councilor of the La Laguna City Council in the eighties, which led him to join the party from a very young age, and to be the leader of the Socialist Youth of the Canary Islands. Along with the former minister, Juan Fernando López Aguilar, he belonged to the board of PSOE Canarias.