The call was published on the Adif website on Monday September 16 and on the 23rd, the provisional list of people admitted and excluded was already published. A week. a recording. The final reward of freely designated position for the position of communications director And reputation Adif corporate was last October 8. The person chosen for the position is Salvador Almenar, a former senior civil servant of the Valencian Generalitat during the socialist mandate of Ximo Puig.
Today, the Association of Journalists of Andalusia filed an appeal to reconsider this appeal. Today the College of Castilla y León will do it. The reason? The position called by the public commercial entity Railway Infrastructure Administrator (Adif) compulsory possession of a C2 in a co-official languagesomething which, according to the Andalusian body, “does not comply with the law and harms” the interests of its members… and of all journalists who, fulfilling the rest of the requirements, do not have a C2 – a higher level – in Catalan, Galician, Basque or Valencian.
The appeal of the public company, which depends on the Ministry of Transport headed by Óscar Puente, “violates articles 70 and 76 of the Law establishing the organic status of the civil serviceby requiring the C2 level in other co-official languages of the Spanish State other than Spanish”, details the professional association.
As for salaries, Almenar will receive, according to the rules, a “basic” remuneration in the amount of 83,747.40 euros to which must be added “the position complement in the amount of 20,338.80 euros”, in addition to ‘a second complement “variable depending on the achievement of the objectives”. In all, 104,086.2 euros gross per year plus this second variable complement.
He will therefore charge almost like the Minister of Transport himselfwhose gross annual remuneration is 79,415.16 euros. To this figure are added the 28,257.74 euros that Puente earns as a deputy: 107,672.90 euros.
“Define as mandatory merit this qualification for a position based in the Community of Madrid lack of legal basisand represents discriminatory treatment for candidates belonging to autonomous communities that do not have co-official languages. “That is to say Andalusians, Extremadura, Canary Islands, Castilian-La Mancha, Castilian-Leonese, Murcian, Asturian, Cantabrian, Riojan…
“Equality”
Despite this, the regulations published on the Adif website specify verbatim that “this call and the selection process provided for therein are governed by the principles of equal treatment and opportunitiesas well as non-discrimination based on sex with regard to access to employment in accordance with Article 14 of the Spanish Constitution.
Sources from the Andalusian professional association specify that the origin of the resource is “in a complaint it moved us a collegiate“, she was therefore transferred to the College’s legal services. For his part, the dean of the College of Journalists of Castilla y León, Pedro Lechuga Mallóunderlines that the filing of the appeal has already been approved by the Board of Directors of the Castilian-Leonese Association of Journalists. The place has already been allocated, which is why the dean quipped: “I wish all public administrations worked as quickly.”
The call, adds the Andalusian professional group, “also contravenes the Civil Service Reform Act of 1984which in its article 19 indicates that in calls for access to public service, “Public Administrations (…) must provide for the selection of duly trained civil servants to occupy the jobs in the Autonomous Communities from which benefits two official languages“.
That is to say, mastery of a co-official language may be required “within the specific framework of each Autonomous Community and only with regard to the co-official language which corresponds to each territory”, but do not require this requirement“, they emphasize, because even if the C2 qualification is considered in the ‘merit’ section, “It is established as a duty of candidates“, in a call that is not regional, but national.
They also refer to the Constitution “The article 3 of the Constitution stipulates that the only official language throughout the Spanish State is Spanish, for which the duty to know it and the right to use it is imposed on all Spaniards, without it being possible to exclude by regional regulations.” This is what was underlined the Constitutional Court repeatedly with regard to co-official languages ”for which such an obligation is not constitutionally prescribed”.
Unlike what happens in the private sector, the selection of public officials must be carried out “by virtue of objective criteriasince all citizens are equal before the law and its application, so that the administration cannot establish discriminatory preferences or on the basis of subjective reasons of some in relation to others.
Thus, the group considers it unnecessary “to require a C2 level diploma in any co-official language of the State”, without there being an “objective criterion” which justifies it. The dean of the professional association of Castilla y León, Pedro Lechugaalso points out that “there is no objective justification that determines this requirement, beyond the fact that it means that they cannot compete on equal terms.”
Regarding the designated person, Salvador Almenar, “we are not against (her). What we are saying is that we must not reach this situation”, which, moreover, “is the first time that this has happened to us happens”, since “If this It is a position at the national level, but the headquarters of Adif was in the Basque Country, Catalonia, Galicia or Valencia, this can be understood by C2 But if it is in Madrid. , and also this. give the same rating for Catalan, Basque or Galician…We don’t know who made the bases, but that should explain why.”
Mandatory requirements include a diploma or bachelor’s degree in journalism, as well as a minimum of 4 years’ experience in the public sector, and a “minimum” professional and professional experience of 5 years in senior positions in functions related to the field of communication. . Also, having occupied “management positions in the field of public administrationassuming functions in the field of communication and in particular as director of communications”, as well as experience of at least one year “as chief of staff in the field of
Public administration.
On the contrary, the call did not require any qualifications in languages like Englishbut yes this C2 in the co-official language. He also favored professional experience in public administrations over the private sphere. The former communications director of Adif, Susana Sanjuanheld this position for two years. It came precisely from the private sector, and more precisely from Iberdrola. At the beginning of September, her appointment as communications director of Kutxabank was announced.
Who is Salvador Almenar
12 people applied for the position, 5 of whom were rejected because they did not have years of experience in public administration or a degree. Of the 8 remaining candidates, Salvador AlmenarWHO comfortably meets all requirements.
President Mazón is the most Castilian the Generalitat has ever known. He does not even conceal the six predecessors of the PP, who took advantage of #9october to see a demonstration of folklorism and chat in Valencia.
Lessons sobre el valencia de castellanoparlants, chap.
– Salva Almenar (@SalvaAlmenar) October 1, 2024
A graduate in journalism from the Rey Juan Carlos University, he worked for 15 years at Diari Gara, RAC 1, El Metropolità and À Punt Mèdia, in addition to directing the newspaper Diari La Veuthe only means of written communication 100% in Valencianwhich closed its doors in 2019.
In 2020, he first held the position of communications director in the Valencian Society of Comprehensive emergency management. Later, between 2020 and 2022, he will be chief of staff of the Ministry of Justice, Interior and Public Administrationand was later named Director General of the Interior. He left his post in 2023, when Carlos Mazón’s PP won the regional elections. Since then and until a few days ago it was political advisor of the delegate of the Government of the Valencian Community, the socialist Pilar Bernabé.
It should be noted that within the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility headed by Óscar Puente, the Minister’s Communications Director also comes from the socialist scene of the Valencian Community, Father Rostrollwho was responsible for the Generitat’s communication with Ximo Puig, according to Europa Press. Indeed, on September 18 five days later after publication of the call, PRNews He stressed that “sources close to the minister highlight the search for a person with experience in managerial positions in the field of public administration and who is, at the same time, a figure close to the former head of communications Pere Rostroll.
EL ESPAÑOL contacted Adif, that is, Salvador Almenar himself, to obtain the position of the public entity Company Administrator of Railway Infrastructures regarding complaints from professional associations of Andalusia and Castile and León regarding the appeal. As of press time, there has been no response.
