PSOE deputy Joaquín Martínez Salmerón faces scrutiny over past eviction work and undisclosed assets

Joaquín Martínez Salmerón, a long-time PSOE member and current deputy in the Permanent Chamber, previously worked as an external lawyer for Cajamurcia, receiving and executing mortgage foreclosure cases for more than a decade. Although he now votes to prohibit evictions of vulnerable people, his firm was responsible for a significant share of such actions during the real-estate crisis. The scandal resurfaced amid the Montse Mínguez controversy, when it emerged that Martínez Salmerón did not disclose the limited company Jomasa Geluk, capitalised at almost one million euros, in his parliamentary asset declaration, saying he intended to update it later.

Additionally, the mayor of Cieza, Tomás Rubio, announced an investigation into a land-reclassification carried out by Martínez Salmerón between 2000 and 2003 that turned agricultural plots into buildable land, enabling the construction of chalets, one of which he now owns. The deputy has defended his omission as a minor administrative error, while opposition figures accuse him of hypocrisy and possible corruption.