Salvador Milà May Face Trial Over Contracts in Altafulla. A court in Tarragona has completed its investigation into direct legal consultancy contracts for the Altafulla city hall. Among the defendants is former Catalan government advisor Salvador Milà. The decision to proceed to trial will be made by the prosecutor's office.
An investigation has concluded in Catalonia into alleged irregularities in the awarding of legal services contracts for the Altafulla city hall (Tarragona province). The focus is on former parliament deputy and ex-Environment Councillor Salvador Milà, previously a leader of Iniciativa per Catalunya (ICV). A judge in El Vendrell found that Milà received over €37,000 through contracts that should have been subject to open tender but were instead awarded as direct contracts.
The investigation found that between 2013 and 2019, the city hall entered into agreements for external legal consultancy with companies linked to politicians from the left bloc. Initially, services were provided by Milà Advocats, led by Salvador Milà himself, and then by the consulting firm Sinergia, where former ICV coordinator Joan Herrera and Joan Ignasi Elena, now a deputy from Esquerra Republicana, worked. According to the court, these services were regular and should have been offered through a public tender, but the city hall treated them as minor procurements, thus avoiding public selection.
Case documents note that Milà Advocats billed almost €5,000 without a formal contract between 2013 and 2016, and then received another €32,000 across 12 invoices under a direct agreement. From 2017, similar services were provided by Sinergia, which received €25,000 by 2019. The judge points to a clear political link between the contracting authority and the providers: both Milà and then-mayor Fèlix Alonso were associated with ICV-EUiA, while Joan Herrera led the party between 2013 and 2016.
Among the defendants are Salvador Mila and his law firm partner, the former head of the municipal urban planning department Maria Luisa Méndez, as well as Joan Herrera and the administrator of Sinergia. The defense insists on closing the case, but the final decision on sending the materials to court will be made by the prosecutor’s office. Herrera himself claims that he left Sinergia back in 2018, when he was appointed director of IDAE, and has no connection to the disputed contracts.
The case is divided into three parts: materials concerning former mayor Félix Alonso have been sent to the Supreme Court due to his status as a member of Congress, while episodes related to Joan Ignasi Elena are being handled by the High Court of Catalonia. The remaining individuals, including Mila, remain under the jurisdiction of the El Vendrell court. As russpain.com notes, such cases involving corruption and disputed contracts regularly become the subject of legal proceedings in Spain. For example, recently in Madrid, the Pujol family’s defense claimed a lack of evidence in the case regarding accounts in Andorra (more on the lawyers' position).
For reference: in Spain, municipal contracts for regular services must go through an open tender if the amount exceeds a set threshold. Violating these rules can lead to criminal liability for abuse of power or corruption. In recent years, courts have paid special attention to ties between politicians and contractors, especially in regions with strong party structures.
