The appointment of Guinadell Orriols, the eldest daughter of Ripoll mayor Sílvia Orriols, as an interim local police officer is under investigation by the Catalan Antifraud Office (OAC). The inquiry follows a formal complaint questioning whether the urgent selection process, launched to fill a long-vacant police post, complied with legal requirements. The case has drawn attention because the mayor also oversees the municipality’s public security portfolio.
The OAC has accepted the complaint and begun a preliminary review, information from sources familiar with the proceedings. Investigators will request documents from the Ripoll council and may conduct interviews or on-site inspections. The inquiry could close, produce recommendations, or lead to disciplinary or administrative action if investigators find irregularities. An investigation is a stage of review, not a final determination that the appointment was unlawful.
Sílvia Orriols, leader of the Aliança Catalana party, has defended the hiring, saying she played no role in her daughter’s selection and that the process was transparent. In an interview with La Vanguardia published on October 19, Orriols rejected the allegations, saying the irregularities cited by her critics “do not exist.” She also challenged the independence of an opposition report, claiming its author had been on Junts’ payroll for 19 years. Her claims are part of the political dispute over the appointment.
Official records show that the mayor holds authority over the local police and validated basic steps in the recruitment, including the appointment of the selection panel. The current police chief, Francesc Campayo, was excluded from the panel while on leave. Tensions with the mayor and the municipal secretary were already running high after a disciplinary dispute.
The appointment has prompted political backlash in Ripoll. Junts representatives have called for Orriols to delegate her security responsibilities. Ferran Raigon, a Junts municipal representative, argued that transferring those functions to another councillor would help avoid a conflict of interest. PSC councillors have formally requested an independent review of the hiring process, arguing that transparency is impressive given the controversy. The call echoes previous demands for oversight, detailed in a recent report on the PSC’s push for an independent audit.
Campayo’s removal from the selection tribunal was one of the contentious points in the process, with some viewing it as a threat to impartiality. His absence was attributed to vacation, but relations with the mayor’s office have been strained since disciplinary measures were taken against him for alleged minor infractions. The town’s IT department later linked those issues to technical problems with his work registration card.
The OAC will examine whether the urgent procedure for filling the interim police position met legal standards and whether the mayor’s dual role created an unacceptable conflict of interest. The findings could have broader implications for local governance and hiring practices in Catalonia, where municipal appointments involving family ties and political authority have prompted debate over transparency and accountability.
In Catalonia, the OAC is tasked with preventing corruption and promoting integrity in public administration. Its interventions can prompt recommendations or disciplinary action; detected wrongdoing may also be referred to other authorities. The Government of Catalonia’s open-data portal publishes public-sector information on municipal budgets and staffing, including job positions, providing a structure for public scrutiny of staffing structures. The scrutiny of Ripoll’s police hiring process reflects wider debate over oversight in local government, particularly where family ties and political responsibilities intersect.
