A judge is now investigating whether the mayor of Altafulla bribed a councilor from Junts

BarcelonaJudicial proceedings are piling up in Altafulla. In addition to the case concerning the awards to former minister Joan Ignasi Elena and former Initiative leader Joan Herrera, which also involves the Commons MP Félix Alonso and former minister Salvador Milà, now another case directly splashes the mayor, Jordi Molinera (ERC), and the councilor Tomàs Serra, who was elected by Junts and continues in government as an independent after his former party left the coalition government last year. In fact, this move is what is now in the sights of the Vendrell courts, where an investigation has been opened following a complaint by the president of the Junts municipal group for alleged crimes of bribery and prevarication. In an order to which ARA has had access, the judge summons Serra and Molinera to testify as investigated parties in this case on January 2, 2027.

As ARA already explained, Junts' complaint considers that Serra's appointment as first deputy mayor was a "political consideration" for having abstained in the vote on the municipal budgets, instead of voting against them as Junts had decided, which allowed the accounts to pass. The judge also believes there could be an offense in these movements, and will also take a statement from the president of the Junts municipal group, as the injured party, on December 15.

"Paid defection"

The complaint that originated this judicial investigation underlines that, with the appointment as first deputy mayor, Serra began to receive a public salary that he did not have as a councilor in the opposition, when he only collected fees for attendance at the municipal plenary. In fact, the complaint refers to jurisprudence on "paid defection" to enrich oneself or to try to retain power. According to the same complaint, the current salary as a member of the municipal government team is 22,000 euros per year.

Before ARA, Serra assured that "there was no illicit pact or any consideration" in exchange for his political actions as a councilor. For his part, Molinera assures that ERC did not know the sense of Serra's vote on the budgets, nor that of the rest of the Junts members who were part of the municipal government and voted against it. He insists that Serra maintains the same councilor positions that ERC and Junts negotiated at the beginning of the term, and that when he appointed him deputy mayor he was still a member of Junts.