Prohens' chief of staff is being investigated for allegedly favoring a relative in a public tender

The chief of staff to President Marga Prohens has been summoned to appear before Palma's Court of Instruction Number 3 as a suspect in the alleged irregularities surrounding the selection process for a driver, a process that ultimately benefited a relative, as reported by SER and confirmed by Europa Press. The president's right-hand man will have to answer for a minor offense of administrative misconduct on March 24, although the initial complaint accused him of influence peddling and abuse of power. Sources within the government have maintained that the appointment was made through discretionary selection, following the established procedure, as Government Spokesperson Antoni Costa stated at a press conference last December. These same sources confirmed that the chief of staff, Alejandro Jurado, is willing to clarify any doubts about the process and insists that it complied with regulations. A civil servant's complaint

The legal proceedings stem from a complaint filed by a civil servant who accused Jurado of devising a scheme to alter the selection process for a driver so that a relative would benefit. As Europa Press explains, this situation has caused the complainant to suffer from anxiety and depression for the past two years, as he feels victimized by an "illegal, unfair, and arbitrary" plan to favor a family member through the manipulation of a public call for applications. As explained in the complaint, the civil servant had been a driver for the regional government since 2003 and for the Presidency since 2008. The department had five drivers: three for the Presidency of the Valencian Community and two for the incident response service, which covered visits to other institutions and also filled in for absences. The complainant was part of the latter service until 2013, when he obtained a permanent position as a driver for the Presidency, and worked with former presidents José Ramón Bauzá and Francina Armengol. In the fall of 2023, a colleague was on leave, and Jurado expressed his desire to fill the vacancy, thus initiating the selection process that is now the subject of controversy. According to the complainant, the "surprise" came when, after the evaluation of all applicants for the position (approximately 200 people), the competition rules were modified to make the submission of a CV mandatory along with the rest of the required documentation. Furthermore, it was added that the selection would be made "in favor of the person the General Secretariat deems most suitable," applying a discretionary appointment process that ultimately benefited the son of one of Jurado's cousins. To implement these modifications, an instruction was published establishing the criteria and guidelines for selecting temporary civil servants. The complainant also asserts that the chosen candidate lacked the necessary merits and experience for the position, which, in his opinion, was demonstrated shortly afterward by the fact that his car was totaled. Meanwhile, the plaintiff and another driver were removed from the President's office and reassigned to the Regional Ministry. This transfer is believed to be behind the decline in his mental health.

The PSIB calls for the dismissal of the President's chief of staff

The PSIB (Socialist Party of the Balearic Islands) demanded on Wednesday the dismissal of the head of the government president's cabinet, Alejandro Jurado, after he was summoned as a suspect in the alleged crime of administrative misconduct. The spokesperson for the socialist party, Rubén Castro, asked Prohens "to stop hiding from the increasing number of corruption cases surrounding her and to provide explanations to the public." The socialists pointed out that the summons of Prohens's right-hand man comes on top of the Provincial Court's ruling last week that the president of the Ibiza Council, Vicent Marí, must stand trial in the 'Island Life' case. "We've been hearing Prohens spread lies and fake news about the PSIB for two years now, but the reality is that the only party with people under investigation for their handling of the pandemic, who will have to testify in trials for alleged corruption, is Prohens' PP," Castro stated.