Esparreguera Deputy Mayor Quits Over Probe Into Illa’s Ex-Chief of Staff
Nativitat Sánchez has resigned as Esparreguera's deputy mayor and councillor over a court probe into FIL foundation contracts that also involves Eduard Rivas.
Nativitat Sánchez, the first deputy mayor of Esparreguera, a town in the province of Barcelona, has resigned from that post and from her seat on the town council. The court investigation she is caught up in also involves Eduard Rivas, who until this week was chief of staff to Salvador Illa, president of the Generalitat (the Catalan government).
The Ajuntament (town council) said Sánchez is stepping down so that the investigation into contracts connected to the Fundación FIL does not get in the way of the municipal government’s work, ABC reported. Her portfolio covered territory, including urban planning and public facilities. Mayor Juan Jurado Bracero of the PSC (the Socialists’ Party of Catalonia) will take over those areas himself.
What investigators found on Rivas’s phone
The case dates from the period when Rivas was mayor of Esparreguera. The Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalonia’s police), working on a judge’s orders, found messages on his mobile phone that compromise both him and Sánchez, according to El Periódico, as cited by ABC. The messages concern the tendering of a contract for the Fundación para la Inclusión Laboral (FIL), a foundation for job inclusion. According to that reporting, the contract was handled so that it would go to a company with direct contacts with Rivas, who was mayor at the time.
The council has not disclosed the name of the company or the value of the contract.
How the case reached the Catalan president’s office
Late on Monday, the Govern (the Catalan executive) announced that Rivas was no longer Illa’s chief of staff. The move came after the judge lifted the secreto de sumario, the secrecy order that keeps case files closed to the parties during the early phase of an investigation.
ABC reported that it had been known for at least ten months that the courts were looking into the case and that the judicial police had a copy of the contents of Rivas’s phone. Illa has defended his aide’s innocence throughout. This week, after the resignation, he again spoke of Rivas’s “honorabilidad” (honour).
What the town council says
In the statement announcing Sánchez’s departure, the council acknowledged “la gravedad de los hechos que se investigan,” the seriousness of the matters under investigation. It said it respects the judicial process, the rights of those affected and the presumption of innocence of everyone involved, and that it remains committed to legality and integrity in public management.
The council also defended its record. It said public resources have been managed rigorously and responsibly, and that decisions taken during its term followed criteria of impartiality and the general interest.
What this means for Esparreguera and the PSC
Esparreguera is governed by a coalition of the PSC and ERC (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, the Catalan left-wing pro-independence party). With Sánchez gone, the mayor now directly runs urban planning and public facilities, the areas she managed until her resignation.
For the PSC, the case reaches beyond one town. Rivas left Illa’s office only days ago, and the new details from his phone now involve a second senior figure from his time as mayor. The investigation continues under the judge’s direction, and no further steps or dates have been announced.
Source: ABC
