Juan Antonio Roca walked free on Monday after his family and friends had got together a million euros in bail money.

The man accused of being the brains behind years of corruption at Marbella Town Hall walked free on Monday after his family and friends had got together a million euros in bail money. He wanted to clean up his image, he explained, and had obviously started as he meant to go on, leaving the jail looking impeccable in a dark suit, blue shirt, shiny shoes and a proud smile. Behind him he had left two years and 16 days in a prison cell, first in Alhaurín de la Torre and then in Albolote. However he took time to say his goodbyes, embracing prison staff and raising his hands towards corridor 11, his home for the last 18 months. “When you get your freedom back, you’ve got reason to be happy”, he said. Roca, who is also involved in the previous “Saqueo” case, faces charges in ‘Malaya’ of repeated offences of bribery, embezzlement, fraud, tax evasion, money laundering as ringleader of an organisation, forgery, illegal possession of firearms, influence peddling and corruption and planning offences.With all this hanging over him Roca must be well aware of the difficulties ahead if he wants to clean up his image, especially in the eyes of the people of Marbella, who were due to take to the streets yesterday evening (Thursday) in protest against his release and his presence in the town.In fact during the ten minutes in which he spoke to the press on Monday he mentioned the protest organised by residents’ associations and local political parties: “I understand that people have every right to demonstrate, it is their fundamental right. However my freedom is also a fundamental right. When two fundamental rights are in violent conflict we have to abide by what the courts say. In this case the judge has said that I should be released. And here I am”. Nevertheless the judge’s decision to order his release, albeit under supervision, was the only step in the Malaya process he seemed to be in agreement with. The alleged corruption ringleader pointed out that “all the evidence had been systematically denied”. He described the investigation as “totally partial, fraught with irregularities and significant violations of fundamental rights”.

After two years “in silence” he now intends to defend himself. “During this time Marbella Town Hall, the Junta and the Prosecution Department have been giving the idea that I am responsible for 50 per cent of this country’s problems; the other 50 per cent has been put down to Zapatero”.The El Pais newspaper reports that Juan Antonio Roca operated in the town with the support of the Local Police force. It says that local police protected him from the National Police and Civil Guard and that he used a total of nine mobile phones and had special equipment on other lines to avoid thee recording of his conversations. It was regular practice for his bodyguards to ask the local police for details of cars he considered to be suspicious, supplying them with number plate details. He used an estimated 120 companies to control his network and had purchased two valuable small palaces in the centre of Madrid. He is quoted on saying to a businessman on one occasion – ‘I am the town hall’.“The most important thing I have to do now is prove my innocence. I have to defend myself, something I haven’t been able to do in two years”. No sooner had Juan Antonio Roca stepped outside Albolote prison in Granada did he tell the press of his immediate plans in a speech that he may well have been rehearsing for the last two years.