Another municipal police selection process in Alicante has sparked controversy. The appeal lodged by an officer, who contended that the responses of the candidates who passed the test formed an “anomalous” pattern, has been rejected by the City Council. Nevertheless, the administration of Luis Barcala perceives these as “mere suspicions, hypotheses, and subjective assessments” made by the appellant.
One of the union representatives on the City Council’s Personnel Board submitted a letter at the beginning of July, cautioning against the potential disclosure of exam questions for six Local Police officer positions during the internal promotion process. The complainant requested an external professional to prepare a mathematical expert report, which indicated the identification of “statistical irregularities” in the document. The text specifically references query number 51 among them. The 16 candidates who successfully completed the test made the same error in this section of the questionnaire, marking the answer “C” when the correct response was “A.”
Nevertheless, the governing team regards these allegations as mere speculation. The Local Government Board authorised the dismissal of the appeal, which was signed by the head of the Training Department and the Councillor for Human Resources (the latter of whom, Julio Calero, was recently relieved of his duties). It contends that the grading agreement is “sufficiently documented and reasoned, with no apparent misuse of power or procedural violation.” In regard to the appeal, the municipal executive observes that “it does not incorporate any direct or documentary evidence proving the existence of any leak,” but rather that “the appellant’s argument is based solely on conjecture derived from a report that does not, in itself, constitute objective or sufficient evidence to overturn the administrative act.”
The document that has been validated by Barcala’s executive maintains that “the selection process has scrupulously respected the principles of transparency, merit, ability, equality, and publicity” and that “no violation of the procedure or preferential treatment towards any candidate has been proven.” The question at issue is also included in a Local Police syllabus that is accessible to the general public, which, in its opinion, “reinforces transparency.”
In the presence of the magnifying lens
These allegations are made one year after the most recent controversy regarding the Local Police competitive examinations was eventually resolved. This newspaper reported in March 2022 that the list of individuals who successfully completed the selection process conducted by the Alicante City Council at the time included individuals who were in close proximity to current officers of the Alicante Security Force. This list included members of the command staff, as well as their sons, daughters, wives, girlfriends, nephews, and sons-in-law, among other relatives.
The case was concluded by the Anti-Fraud Office in December of the same year, as they found the assertion that multiple candidates had been informed about the tests to be “unbelievable.” Following allegations of pervasive nepotism in the exams, new appointments to the Alicante Local Police force were made in February 2024, two years later. Subsequently, the Governing Board authorised the appointment of 39 civil servants to vacant Local Police officer positions.
Author: Derek Appleton
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