The last socialist mayor of Alcalá de Henares, Javier Rodriguez Palaciosawarded minor contracts worth several thousand euros to companies run by relatives of some of her councilors during the years she governed the city of Madrid, from 2019 to 2023. Specifically, she awarded contracts to two companies whose owners are direct relatives of her councilors. Patricia Sanchez and Blanca Ibarrawho continue to be part of the municipal corporation.
The government of the Alcalá de Henares City Council, now in the hands of the Popular Party, has ordered the preparation of two files of confidential information to investigate the possible existence of irregularities in order to verify that these events could constitute a disciplinary fault or another type of responsibility. . At the next plenary session, the creation of a special commission of inquiry to resolve political responsibilities for actions carried out during the time of the socialist Rodríguez Palacios as mayor.
These small contracts with companies belonging to relatives of the socialist councillors were approved within the Board of Directors, where most of the time, the councillors Patricia Sanchez and Blanca Ibarra were present.
“Beyond the legal responsibilities that could be settled in court and to which we will of course go, the current government team wants to clarify all these responsibilities. Not only of the designated advisers, but also of the members of the corporation and other temporary and trusted senior officials of the previous government, immersed in this irregular and immoral hiring procedure with family members“, they explain from the Popular Party of Alcalá.
“As you know, the consolidated text of the Public Sector Contracts Law in its article 60 section 1.g) prohibits persons related to elected officials from contracting with the public sector. Specifically, reference is made to spouses, persons linked by a similar relationship of affective coexistence, ascendants and descendants, as well as second-degree relatives by blood or affinity,” they add.
The purpose of this commission is to find out whether there has been a conflict of interest of these people who were part of the government team that awarded the contracts to their relatives and what impact they had on the tender process and whether a procedure was initiated, as required by law, by the previous government of Rodríguez Palacios to clarify the existence of this conflict of interest with the corresponding report of the legal services established by law.
“Former mayor Rodríguez Palacios is an expert in asking everyone for explanations about events much less serious than those we are going to ask to be investigated in this commission. Neither Rodríguez Palacios nor any member of his team have yet given any explanations, and the people of Alcalá have the right to know all the details,” they say from the PP.
On the other hand, the popular They influence the fact of wanting to know if the socialist spokesman is really committed to investigating possible cases of corruption in the public administration or only the partisan use of all state institutions “to create hoaxes that hide his party’s own corruption at the national level” his management at the head of the City Council of Alcalá de Henares.
“Unfortunately, it seems common for socialists to contract with or benefit from their family businesses.
We saw it in the case of the general director of Egalité, who gave purple points to her partner’s company (a case very similar to this one) and for which she had to be fired. Or, without going any further, we see how the direct relatives of the President of the Government (wife and brother) are immersed in investigation processes,” denounces the PP.
It is worth remembering that Javier Rodriguez requested the resignation of the President of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayusoclaiming that his brother had received 300,000 euros for a commission. At a press conference, he himself assured: “If this had happened to me, I would have resigned immediately.”
Now, the PP expects him to follow through on his words and if there are acts that constitute a crime, he and the councilors who committed these irregularities will leave the mayor’s office.
