The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office of Seville will investigate the alleged abuse of emergency contracts awarded by the Andalusian Health Service (SAS) between 2021 and 2023, which the Andalusian branch of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) denounced in court last June. These contracts, totaling 300 million euros, were awarded using an exceptional procedure approved for the pandemic two years after the framework that supported it was repealed. The PSOE’s lawsuit, which has been accepted for processing by the Court of Instruction Number 13 of Seville, accuses the SAS of misappropriation and prevarication in the awarding of contracts through a procedure “without publicity, control, or competition, based on an obsolete regulatory framework.”
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office will need to determine whether the SAS incurred misappropriation and prevarication in the contract awarding system utilized, as alleged by the PSOE, through the use of procedures that lacked publicity, control, or competition and were based on a repealed regulatory framework. The denunciation includes unfavorable reports from the General Intervention of the Junta de Andalucía, which highlighted non-compliance and reservations regarding the emergency contracts signed by the SAS in 2020 and 2021. The reports warned that the emergency contracts and extensions made during that period contravened the Public Procurement Law by not being justified, particularly in the case of direct awards made in 2021 when the impact of the pandemic had significantly diminished.
The reports from 2020 and 2021 by the General Intervention point out that the abuse of these contracts posed “risk situations” for public spending as the lack of open competition meant that the solvency, suitability, and capabilities of the contractors were not assessed. Many of these contracts did not even follow the prescribed procedure for emergency contracts. Notable among the several extensions of express contracts denounced by the PSOE in their complaint was one made on June 21, 2022, just three days after Juan Manuel Moreno won the elections with an absolute majority. The extension not only prolonged a contract awarded on January 20, 2021 but also increased the maximum expenditure to 226.73 million euros. It is striking that the justification for extending the emergency contract was made four months before its execution.
The Junta de Andalucía initially downplayed the admission of the complaint, claiming it was a mere procedural formality. However, with the investigation now being taken over by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, it has gained significance. The government argued that the funds were always used for the specified purposes and that the contracts were awarded to “save lives,” despite the reports indicating a decrease in the severity of the pandemic. Apart from emergency contracts, the General Intervention of the SAS also questioned the minor contracts awarded through provincial purchasing centers in those two years. In 2021, a total of 1.223 billion euros were awarded through this method, with 92% of them showing irregularities, mostly due to the splitting of large contracts. The PSOE is considering incorporating these irregularities into their complaint.
The investigation into the alleged abuse of emergency contracts by the SAS reflects the concerns raised regarding the transparency and legality of the contract awarding process. The involvement of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office indicates the seriousness of the allegations and the need for a thorough examination of the actions taken by the SAS in awarding these contracts. The reports from the General Intervention highlight significant deviations from the established procedures and regulations, leading to questions about the accountability and oversight mechanisms within the SAS and the Junta de Andalucía. The outcome of the investigation will be crucial in determining the extent of any wrongdoing and the consequences for those involved in the awarding of these contracts.
