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 Spain’s economy may be getting back on its feet, but that’s no thanks to two workers who were recently fired for collecting pay without working for the past 15 years. 
 
 The town of Jerez de la Frontera—known for its sherry, flamenco dancing and motorcycle competitions—fired a driver and a gardener employed through the local General Confederation of Labor union after they admitted they had been collecting pay without going to work for up to 15 years, according to TheLocal.com, an English-language news network in Europe. 
 
 “The municipal government only seeks to eliminate unjustified acquired habits that do considerable damage to the operation of the city council, its services and, especially, its battered coffers,” the city said in a statement on Wednesday. 
 
 
 
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 The town’s human resources department reportedly opened an investigation into the situation after they discovered the two failed to show up for a single day of work in last year or any day so far this year. Upon further review, the department discovered the two employees, who were not named, had actually been paid for duties they had not carried out for up to 15 years. 
 
 When questioned, the two employees admitted they had not gone into work, but said the situation followed “a tacit agreement” with the different municipal governments that had been in place for more than 15 years. Additionally, they contended they were simply taking their accumulated vacation days, and those of their colleagues as stipulated under union rules. 
 
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 The human resources department also found that one member of the local police union only 47 days in last year, while another worked only 66 days. City officials called the behavior a “serious breach of labor obligations” and vowed to stop these types of situations. ||||| Archive photo of man having a siesta. Photo: Jessica Jones 
 
 Jessica Jones · 30 Jun 2016, 11:38 
 
 Published: 30 Jun 2016 11:38 GMT+02:00 
 
 A driver and gardener in the town of Jerez de la Frontera, southern Spain, have been fired after the town hall discovered they had been collecting pay but not going to work for a period of up to 15 years. 
 
 The Human Resources department in the town council at first discovered that the two men had not been to work for a single day in 2015 or so far in 2016 when they were going through their records. 
 
 But on further inspection they discovered that the period stretched much further back than they could have imagined. 
 
 "Two representatives of the General Confederation of Labour union (the CGT) could have gone years without coming to work; according to a written statement by the men themselves this situation could date back 15 years," the town hall of Jerez de la Frontera wrote in a statement, published on its website. 
 
 The CGT union, to which both men belong, has defended its unionists, arguing that they were simply taking off their "accumulated days" and those of other employees, which can be shared. 
 
 It argued that their absence was part of a “tacit agreement” with the various town councils over the 15 year period. 
 
 After being questioned by Human Resources, one of the men returned to work, while the other produced a written statement explaining that he had accumulated the union hours of his colleagues. 
 
 The town hall, however, said this was "insufficient to free him from work for the rest of the year, which was his intention". 
 
 The two men are not the only workers exposed as having worked much fewer hours than they should have. 
 
 Story continues below… 
 
 The town hall claims that it also discovered that several workers from the SIP union (local police) who had worked fewer than 100 days in 2015. One member worked only 47 days in 2015, while another worked 66. 
 
 In February 2016 it was discovered that a civil servant has failed to turn up to work for six years but had continued to collect his salary each month when no one noticed his absence.
– Two government workers in Spain were fired this week when it was discovered they may not have done any actual work in 15 years despite continuing to collect their paychecks, the Independent reports. The town of Jerez de la Frontera's HR department discovered the men hadn't been to work between January 2015 and the end of this past May. But a deeper investigation revealed the problem was actually much worse. The city says the men—one a gardener, the other a driver—admitted to not working for up to 15 years. The workers' union claims the men were just taking their "accumulated days" off and the whole thing was totally legitimate, the Local reports. The union allows days off to be shared between employees and says the two men were using the days off accumulated by other workers, as well. One of the fired workers attempted to explain this in a letter to HR, but the city found it "insufficient to free him from work for the rest of the year, which was his intention.” “The municipal government only seeks to eliminate unjustified acquired habits that do considerable damage to the operation of the city council, its services, and, especially, its battered coffers,” Money quotes a statement from the city as saying. The union plans to fight the mens' firing. (Another Spanish man was discovered in February to have been skipping work for at least six years when his employer tried to give him an award.)