In January 2026, the Mossos d’Esquadra seized Eduard Rivas’s mobile phone under a judge’s order in Martorell. On 15 January, police also seized documents at Esparreguera City Council relating to contracts awarded to the Fundación para la Inclusión Laboral (FIL). The searches were part of an investigation into municipal contracts from Rivas’s time as mayor of Esparreguera, a post he held from 2015 to 2024.
Rivas resigned on 2 November as chief of staff to Catalan president Salvador Illa, ten months after the investigation opened. The Catalan government described the resignation as voluntary, saying it was “por decisión propia” (“by his own decision”). Rivas remains under investigation and has appointed a defence lawyer; he has not been convicted. Illa had reaffirmed his confidence in Rivas in late April, after the investigation became public.
The inquiry, handled by Investigative Court No. 7 of Martorell, concerns possible irregularities in municipal contracting involving FIL, an Esparreguera-based organisation whose mission includes supporting employment for people with intellectual disabilities. The contracts under scrutiny were awarded by the city council in 2022 and in each of the next two years for street cleaning and maintenance of public spaces. Investigators are examining whether some public funds may have been used to pay private expenses of people linked to the organisation. That remains an allegation under investigation, not an established finding.
The Presidency department named Xavier Amor, until now Catalonia’s secretary for local governments and relations with Aran, as Rivas’s replacement. It said the Govern would formalise his appointment at its Tuesday meeting. Amor was mayor of Pineda de Mar from 2007 to 2024, after serving as a councillor for eight years, and led the Federation of Municipalities of Catalonia from 2013 to 2019.
The investigation concerns municipal contracts from Rivas’s period as mayor and is separate from the political accountability dispute over the Urda rail disaster discussed in earlier coverage.
