Salvador Illa maintains confidence in his chief of staff despite being judicially investigated
A judge in Martorell has put Eduard Rivas under the spotlight for various public contracts when he was mayor of Esparreguera
BarcelonaPresident Salvador Illa defended his chief of staff, Eduard Rivas, this morning after his involvement in alleged irregularities when he was mayor of Esparraguera (Baix Llobregat) became known. Rivas, who led the city council of this municipality for the PSC between 2015 and 2024, is being investigated as part of a process that inquires into public contracts of the consistory, according to El Periódicohas reported, which explains that the Mossos confiscated the socialist official's mobile phone three months ago. Illa, for the moment, has reaffirmed his "full confidence" in his collaborator.
"Given the information published about the Chief of Staff of the President of the Generalitat, we express our full confidence in his person," sources from the Presidency reacted in a statement, adding that Rivas is the "first interested party" in clarifying the investigation "as soon as possible." The same sources assure, in this regard, that the former mayor, who left his municipal post almost two years ago when Illa came to power, has "total willingness to collaborate in everything that is necessary."
The information from El Periódico explains that on January 15, the police confiscated Rivas's mobile phone by order of a judge from Martorell. The device has not yet been returned to him and, according to the aforementioned newspaper, the download and analysis of the information it contains is still pending. All this, within the framework of an investigation that reportedly revolves around irregularities of the Fundació per a la Inclusió Laboral (FIL), based in Esparraguera and dedicated to offering work to people with intellectual disabilities, at risk of exclusion and vulnerability. The judge is investigating whether part of the money from public contracts ended up funding private expenses linked to the entity, according to the article.
As for Rivas, who is listed as an investigated party in the case, the seizure of his phone has been included in a separate, sealed proceeding, the exact content of which has therefore not been disclosed. However, the same proceeding includes a series of documents that the Mossos also confiscated on January 15 at the Esparraguera City Council regarding various contracts for cleaning and maintenance services of public spaces that the consistory awarded to FIL between 2022 and 2024, when Illa's chief of staff was the mayor.
