DENIA mayor Vicent Grimalt has defended his position after it emerged that the production company that makes the Spanish version of “Masterchef” was paid €18,000 from the town’s annual budget. As reported in the “Weekender” at the time the popular programme was filmed in the Marina Alta town at the start of April. However earlier this week the opposition PP criticised the payment after learning of it, saying it had not appeared in any budget reports for 2019.
Mr Grimalt said that this covered a 20 second promotion about Denia on prime national TV and the €18,000 was “a bargain”. He also said that it is included within the tourism budget for the year alongside promotions such as the ongoing one in the Madrid Metro. However prior to filming the town had to sign a confidentiality clause which was why the expenditure was “not as transparent as it could be”.
