Authorities in Navarra are at the center of a high-profile investigation linked to the renovation of Sendaviva park. At stake is nearly €800,000, which investigators suspect may have been distributed among contractors in violation of the law. The regional government, led by María Chivite, has unexpectedly announced that it does not have the key contracts currently under review by the courts and anti-corruption authorities.
The essence of the complaint is simple: four contracts for restoring the park after the 2022 fire were processed as separate small procurements. This approach allowed officials to bypass mandatory checks and competition, awarding all the work to a single company—Adentro Construimos SL. This same firm had previously renovated the office of the Socialist Party of Navarra (PSN) and the apartment of former party spokesperson Ramón Alzórriz.
Accountability and Schemes
The Navarra government insists it is not responsible for these contracts, since they were signed by state-owned companies Parquenasa and NICDO. However, both entities are directly connected to the regional authorities: NICDO is part of a state corporation headed by Chivite herself. Nevertheless, officials maintain that the documents are not in their possession, but rather with the subsidiary organizations.
This response puzzled the court. The judge requested all materials related to the four contracts from the government, but received a formal refusal. Authorities explained that publishing information on the transparency portal does not mean the contracts are government-owned, claiming the portal is used by all subordinate agencies.
Investigation and Accusations
The investigation began following a complaint from Vox, which suspected corruption and abuse of influence in the allocation of contracts. Party representatives openly described the government’s actions as ‘mockery of the court’ and believe officials are trying to evade responsibility by shifting blame onto affiliated companies.
Particular attention has been drawn to the fact that all four contracts were classified as minor contracts, with amounts just under 200,000 euros. One was set at 199,000 euros—just one euro below the threshold that would require an open tender. Two contracts were signed on the same day and cover nearly identical scopes of work. This appears to be an attempt to circumvent the law and exclude other bidders from the tender.
Anti-corruption Oversight
Alongside the court proceedings, the regional anti-corruption agency has launched its own investigation. It has already found evidence of illegal contract splitting and work performed beyond the approved budget. Experts believe the four contracts essentially constitute a single project that was artificially divided without valid reasons.
Anti-corruption experts also point out that the evaluation of bids should have been carried out by an independent technical commission, not the contracting authority itself. However, this principle was violated in this case. All contracts were classified as minor, which made it possible to avoid forming a selection committee and kept the process as closed as possible.
Political ties
The choice of contractor is raising concerns not only among investigators but also in the public domain. Adentro Construimos SL has close links to the PSN leadership: the company renovated the party headquarters in Pamplona and the apartment of former speaker Alsorrisa. Moreover, Alsorrisa’s wife worked at a firm associated with former senior Socialist Santos Cerdán, who is currently under investigation.
Funding for the restoration work at Sendaviva came from subsidies allocated by the government of Navarra. Despite this, officials insist they have no involvement with the disputed contracts and cannot present them in court. This stance is drawing increasing scrutiny from the opposition and observers.
Reaction and consequences
After the government refused to provide the documents, Vox representatives submitted a separate request to NICDO and its director Ramón Urdiáin, demanding disclosure of the details of the concluded contracts. The opposition contends that the authorities are deliberately stalling to avoid accountability and hide possible violations.
The anti-corruption agency stresses that if it is confirmed that the contracts were deliberately split, this could signify serious violations of the law. For now, however, the government of Navarra continues to distance itself from the scandal, despite clear links to key figures in the case and the funding of the projects from the regional budget.
