The selection of the position for chief mayor of the Local Police of León – that is, for main commissioner – has been in question for four years after a long and complex judicial process and an “irregular” opposition.
According to sources consulted by this newspaper, the Minister of the Interior Fernando Grande-Marlaska would have “maneuvered” to presumably place the MALP agent in the position, who currently holds the leadership and who had passed the opposition exam with up to twenty spelling mistakes.
LA RAZÓN has had full access to the case summary and also to the examinations that led to the promotion of this agent. As can be seen, this agent’s evidence presents handwriting that makes it difficult and impossible to read and understand, thus violating the rules established in the bases of the opposition.
In addition, he makes up to twenty spelling mistakes. For example, instead of using the relative pronoun “que”, he shortened it to just a “q” (sic) up to nine times. He even wrote “tb” (sic) instead of the adverb “also.” The sources consulted by this newspaper also explain that this police officer had previously worked on the design of the minister’s capsule devices and that the opposition exams had allegedly been leaked to him in order to be promoted to the position by “order of the Ministry.”
The alleged professional relationship of this agent with Marlaska has fueled accusations that his appointment could not only be the result of a competitive process, but also of support at high levels. His previous promotions – including that of inspector during his time in Brussels – were also the subject of criticism in this context.
Other sources consulted also point to pressures in the selection process and decisions taken “from above”, although these extremes have not been judicially accredited.
This newspaper has also contacted the agent in question, who has categorically denied all these claims.
The controversy began in 2021 when the places were called for the free opposition of mayor of the Local Police of León, which is made up of two exams: a theoretical one and a practical case, where all applicants fail except this agent. However, another of the candidates decided to appeal the process before the Contentious-Administrative Court number 2 of León, which noted “manifest irregularities” in the selection process.
Although its initial ruling did not completely annul the procedure, it did open the door to a deeper review and for the matter to escalate to the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla y León (TSJCyL).
This body annulled in a ruling the selective procedure by which the agent was appointed Chief Mayor of the Local Police of León after more than three years in office. In fact, he ordered the appointment of a new correction court to “reasonably” evaluate the theoretical and practical exercises and also questioned essential elements of the procedure.
As stated in the ruling, during the process, there were changes in the exam minutes, where this agent’s initial grade was modified. In fact, the agent in question initially achieved a grade of 4.86, which excluded him from the process, and later obtained a 5.22 irregularly, in the opinion of the judicial body.
The León City Council – on whom this opposition depends – led by the socialist mayor José Antonio Diez Díaz, then tried to maintain the validity of the process and appealed the TSJCyL ruling to the Supreme Court (TS).
However, the high court rejected the appeal and supported, de facto, the need to review the exams. also imposing procedural costs of 2,000 euros on the community council.
Far from closing the case, the new exam correction carried out in December 2024 once again fueled the controversy.
The results once again placed MALP in first place, although by a very narrow margin with respect to the appellant. The latter once again challenged the execution of the sentence, arguing that not all the evidence had been adequately corrected.
Thus, the TSJCyL intervened again and issued a new ruling last March in which it amended for the second time the actions of the qualifying court when it understood that the ruling was not correctly executed. As clearly stated in the judicial resolution, the deliberation body – also appointed by the City Council itself – only scored and evaluated the exam of the current head of the body, but not of the candidate who appealed the process, as entrusted by the judicial body.
The process, therefore, remains open, pending new judicial pronouncements and with this agent still in charge of the body. The qualifying panel will have to meet again to rate the grades of the appellant applicant, whose grade was lowered from 6.53 to 6.24 in the first instance.
But beyond the judicial resolutions, the case gains relevance due to the connections of this agent with the leadership of the Government. According to sources consulted by this newspaper, given the “fear” that the TSJCyL would decide to disqualify him from office due to irregularities in the opposition process, the León City Council decided to create a new freely appointed super security coordinator position that, apparently, was going to fall to this agent. However, the unions and the rest of the political parties managed to stop the creation of this square in the plenary session of the Chamber.