A few sentences from Alberto Núñez Feijóo during a radio interview broadcast this Tuesday distorted the PP’s strategy in the face of the scandal of sexual assault allegations committed by Sumar’s former spokesperson, Íñigo Errejón. Those from Feijóo opted for a discreet profile, aware that a case of harassment could break out within their own ranks. This is what happened with the senator and mayor of Algeciras, José Ignacio Landaluce, as protagonist. After Feijóo’s words, the PP got stuck in a chain of contradictions and half-explanations. The national leadership has designated the Andalusian as responsible for management, but internal protocols indicate that Genoa is responsible for investigating.
“We know it can happen,” Feijóo said on esRadio around nine in the morning. It was the leader of the PP himself who, in response to a question about the Errejón scandal, mentioned an “investigation” into a possible case of harassment and aggression targeting the senator and mayor of Algeciras (Cádiz), José Ignacio Landaluce. “No one puts their hand in the fire for anyone,” added the opposition leader. This Tuesday, Landaluce did not attend the plenary session of the Senate.
The case does not arise from the complaint of the advisers allegedly concerned, but from the leak of some WhatsApp screenshots briefly published by Alvise Pérez on his Telegram channel. Shortly after, the messages disappeared. Feijóo reported that after “a reference” to Landaluce, “we automatically spoke to him and this matter was clarified.” “Any type of complaint about my party must be investigated,” he said. But Feijóo’s words had the opposite effect than expected. The national leadership assured journalists that the management of the “complaint”, in the words of Feijóo, depended on the Andalusian PP of Juan Manuel Moreno.
Throughout the morning of Monday, the state leadership of the party returned leadership to the PP of Andalusia led by Moreno. The Andalusian government tried to limit the case to the provincial leadership of the PP of Cádiz. The parliamentary spokesperson, Miguel Tellado, assured that the investigation was open, while the secretary general, Cuca Gamarra, closed it. Everything almost at the same time.
A secret protocol that concerns Genoa
“The PP of Andalusia strives to know the facts directly, even though there are no complaints in this matter, neither public nor private,” Tellado said during a press conference in Congress, during from which he declared that the investigation was completed. continues open. “The internal (and secret) protocol on harassment was immediately activated, “as it could not be otherwise,” said Gamarra a few minutes later, which settled: “These two women were asked, the management of the PP in Andalusia, in Cadiz, to know the truth and so that they can explain themselves.
But the protocol to which Gamarra refers does not leave the resolution of this type of conflict to regional directorates, even less to provincial or local directorates. It is national leaders who must investigate and resolve this problem. Responsibility, according to the document, lies with Génova, 13 years old. This is what the document put forward by El Periódico and to which elDiario.es had access indicates. Because the protocol is not public, but it is accessible to all PP workers on the organization’s intranet.
The latest version of the PP’s “Protocol for the Prevention of Harassment in the Workplace” dates from May 2023, a year after Feijóo took over as party leader. In this context, the document establishes as “sexual harassment (…) any verbal, non-verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature having the aim or effect of violating the dignity of a person, in particular when a intimidating, degrading, humiliating and offensive environment.
The text continues: “Professional character is presumed when it occurs within the framework of the organization of the entity, as well as when the behavior is linked to the conditions of employment, training or promotion of work. »
Concerning the procedure, the protocol ensures that “it is initiated by a complaint from the alleged victim of harassment (or by the Person Concerned who, not being a victim of harassment, witnesses it). » This complaint will be addressed “to the director of the human resources department or to the OCN via ethical channels”. The OCN is the Regulatory Compliance Office of the PP, a national department whose function is precisely to ensure proper compliance with the laws at the internal level. The Ethics Chain is a complaints chain also managed in Génova, 13.
The protocol establishes that “the OCN, in collaboration with the director of human resources, must adopt the necessary measures to guarantee the veracity” of the complaint. An investigation committee will be formed, preferably composed of the person responsible for HR and two other people from the OCN.
A passing complaint and half-hearted denial
Monday afternoon, some unknowns were clarified. Despite what Cuca Gamarra said, there is no indication that the anti-harassment protocol has actually been activated. ElDiario.es tried, without success, to clearly confirm which channel was used for the internal investigation.
The ephemeral publication of the MEP Se Acabó la Fiesta showed several screenshots of WhatsApp conversations in which two Algeciras councilors comment on certain alleged attitudes of the city’s mayor, José Antonio Landaluce. One of them says at one point that when they were sitting at the table with other people “he would put his hand under the table,” which, the story goes, the others perceived.
In two letters sent to journalists from the Andalusian PP in the middle of the afternoon, both said they denied “the spread of the accusations”, although neither of them denies that the screenshots are real.
