The Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia has opened an investigation into the company Mercats, dependent on the Tarragona City Council, for two alleged irregularities in Tarragona Municipal Markets. The body transferred the measure to the mayor, Rubén Viñuales, in a requirement signed on April 1.
The communication bears the signature of the director of investigations of Antifrau, Manel Díaz, after admitting a complaint received on February 10. From there, the body has launched preliminary credibility actions to clarify if the reported facts have sufficient basis.
Two open lines of investigation
One of the actions focuses on the formalization of a service contract that could conceal an employment relationship. The other points to a possible conflict of interest related to a former employee who would have received contracts after having maintained previous employment ties both with the entity and with the Tarragona City Council itself.
The person under investigation is a former advisor to the municipal group of Junts per Tarragona during the 2019 2023 term. In February 2025, a one-year contract was signed with her for the management of the justification, monitoring, and implementation service of the Tarragona Centre Comercial Obert project.
That assignment is financed with Next Generation funds for an amount of 47,916 euros. Antifrau is now examining the fit of that contracting within the previous relationships of the investigated party with Mercats and with the municipal administration.
Request for documentation to the City Council
In the same document, the Anti-Fraud Office has requested the City Council to deliver in 10 business days all documentation related to the contractual or labor relations with the investigated person from January 2023 to the present.
The body highlights that the analyzed facts could affect the proper functioning of the public administration and citizen trust. The investigation remains in a preliminary phase and Antifrau has already specified that these actions are not subject to expiration, so the file will remain open until the review of the documentation and of the reported facts concludes.