Civil servant who did no work for six years exposed by officials preparing to reward him for 'long service'

A Spanish civil servant who did no work for six
years has been fined almost £21,000 after his
long absence was finally noticed.
Officials in Cádiz were preparing to hand
Joaquín Garcia an award for long service when
inquiries revealed the true extent of his
contribution to the local authority.
In 1990, he was given a €37,000-a-year post at
the Aguas de Cádiz public utilities provider,
Spain’s El Mundo newspaper reported.
Jorge Blas Fernandez, who served as the city’s
deputy mayor from 1995 to 2015, said he was
given an office in the municipal building and no
more was heard for more than a decade.
“We thought the water company was
supervising him but that was not the
case,” he added.
“We found out when we were about to
present him with a commemorative
plaque for 20 years of service.”
Inquiries with the manager of Aguas de Cádiz,
who had an office opposite, revealed he had not
seen Mr García for several years and when Mr
Blas phoned his absent employee, he allegedly
“could not answer” questions on what he had
been doing.
A legal case was launched in 2010 alleging he
had not done a day’s work since 2004, despite
continuing to collect his €37,000 (£29,000)
annual salary.
After a protracted lawsuit, Mr García, lost his
appeal at a Cádiz court on Thursday and will
have to pay his fine, which is the largest
possible, The Times reported.
Mr García denied the allegations, claiming that
he turned up each day but found there was no
work to do.
Asked why he did not report the situation, he
said he had a family to support and feared it
would be difficult to find another job, so read
extensively and became an “expert on the
philosopher Spinoza”.
The 69-year-old was not fired from the post
because he had already retired