The High Court of Justice of Catalonia is investigating former minister Joan Ignasi Elena and former leader of the Comuns Joan Herrera for alleged irregularities in minor contracts from the Altafulla City Council awarded between 2017 and 2019, during the mayorship of Fèlix Alonso.
The case does not focus so much on the volume of the awards as on the procedure used. The court is analyzing indications of administrative prevarication and possible splitting of contracts to avoid public competition in external assignments such as legal advice and the drafting of technical specifications.
Jordi Molinera said on RAC1 that the investigation was foreseeable
The current mayor of Altafulla, Jordi Molinera, stated in an interview on RAC1 that the opening of this judicial line did not surprise him. In his words, the progress of the case aligns with suspicions his group already held when it was in opposition.
"I was not surprised. We imagined that a cascade would begin" - Jordi Molinera, mayor of Altafulla
Molinera added in the same interview that, before taking office in the municipal government, they had already detected other contracts with links between awardees and the Comuns' circle. He also maintained that those assignments ended up with people related to that political space.
Furthermore, he linked the origin of the conflict to the actions of the Anti-Fraud Office in 2022. The mayor stated that the Comuns concealed these visits to the public in a period prior to the elections and argued that such behavior harmed the municipality.
The case examines minor contracts awarded between 2017 and 2019
The investigation focuses on minor contracts from the Altafulla town hall processed between 2017 and 2019. During that period, Fèlix Alonso held the mayorship, and the city council resorted to external services for tasks such as legal advice and the preparation of technical specifications.
The court is trying to clarify whether these assignments were artificially divided to evade public competition procedures. This possible splitting is one of the central elements of the case, along with indications of administrative prevarication.
Molinera summarized this suspicion on RAC1 by stating that the problem lies not so much in the amount awarded as in the way the contracts were made. The investigation remains provisionally open while the court carries out proceedings to determine possible criminal responsibilities.