In Tarragona, the Supreme Court has named Fèlix Alonso Cantorné, a Sumar MP in the Spanish parliament, as a suspect in a case over allegedly irregular public contract awards in Altafulla. The inquiry relates to his time as mayor of the town.
The court is investigating a suspected offence of administrative prevarication. According to the order, the criminal division links him to the alleged direct awarding of contracts to two companies between 2011 and 2019. The decision follows the public prosecutor’s recommendation and a report from a court in El Vendrell, Baix Penedès.
Investigating magistrate Vicente Magro Servet has ordered Alonso Cantorné to give a statement at the Supreme Court on 15 June at 9:30am. The judge has also called several witnesses for the same day from 10am, including Joan Herrera, Joan Ignasi Elena, Miguel Ángel Pigem, Judit Liguerre, María Luisa Méndez, Salvador Milà, Berta Ramos and Francisco de Sales Salinas.
The case also reaches the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC), which is investigating ERC MP Joan Ignasi Elena, a former interior minister, and former Iniciativa MP Joan Herrera. They are suspected of being necessary collaborators in the same alleged prevarication case linked to public contract awards in Altafulla.
According to the TSJC, Elena and Herrera, as administrators of Sinergia E.D.M., allegedly allowed the mayor to award extensions to a minor advisory contract without advertising or a tender process, and without the required reports. The court order says Sinergia received €1,300 a month for advisory services, with 22 invoices issued between November 2017 and July 2019, totalling €25,046.67, against an initial contract worth €15,600.
The investigation also covers a minor contract for drafting the specifications for the planning of the Casal Municipal de la Violeta. The consultancy was paid €5,000 excluding VAT for that work, which the court said was one of the tasks usually carried out by municipal staff. The TSJC says the awards may have involved improper use of both contract extensions and the minor contract category, despite unfavourable reports from the municipal comptroller and no reports from the town hall secretary. For more Catalonia news, see our news page.
