The Alicante protected housing scandal spreads to councilors' siblings and cousins

ValenciaThe scandal over the award of protected housing in Alicante continues to grow. Added to the controversy that a real estate development has benefited up to five PP officials, employees of the consistory and the Generalitat, is the circumstance that more than a dozen families with several members have been granted flats in the building. Among them are even three siblings and two cousins aged between 18 and 24, a particularly striking fact, given that the first steps of the project date back to 2018, which would have required their registration at 14 or 15 years of age.

The latest data comes from a report prepared by the Local Police of Alicante at the request of the court investigating the case. The document reveals that up to 46 of the 140 homes in the building, nicknamed Les Naus, have no registered residents, and that in many others there is one registered resident but "more people" living there. It also notes that 12 non-awardees reside in six flats. It even points out that there are 26 rubbish bins in a neglected state, with abundant uncollected advertising, a circumstance that would indicate that the homes are empty. All this data would indicate possible infringements because the regulations for the award of flats require the documentation of all cohabitants, require that the awarded flat be used as the primary residence and stipulate that the annual income of the family unit must not exceed 54,600 euros per year according to the new limit set by the PP – previously it was 48,000.

Flats for five PP officials

The new details provided by the police add to the facts that uncovered the controversy: that the Councilor for Urban Planning, Rocío Gómez, was the beneficiary of a flat; that three other flats went to the two children and nephew of the Director General of Internal Organization, Public Procurement and Fund Management, María Pérez-Hickman; that two more were for municipal architect Francisco Nieto and the wife of the head of cabinet of the Ministry of Tourism, Miguel Ángel Sánchez, and that another went to the wife of the technician from the Ministry of Housing who validated the files. To the list should be added the son of the Councilor for Environment and Health of the nearby town of Sant Vicent del Raspeig, the popular Mercedes Torregrosa, and Sira Pérez, current treasurer of the Alicante City Council of the neighboring municipality of Sant Joan d’Alacant, according to two reports provided by Eldiario.es and the newspaper Información.

As a result of the scandal, Gómez, Pérez-Hickman and Sánchez have already left their posts. In addition, two municipal architects and a technician from the territorial department of Housing in Alicante have been sanctioned. This is not the case of the mayor of the city, Luis Barcala, who has refused to resign and whom Vox has prevented from being censured. According to Eldiario.es, in 2005 Barcala's wife and her sister-in-law already obtained protected housing to rent in another development of public flats.

The controversy – which has already led to the first citizen protests – and which is being investigated by the judiciary for alleged crimes of administrative prevarication, use of privileged information, influence peddling, fraud and prohibited negotiations by public officials, has been aggravated by complaints of rent – with monthly payments of up to 1,600 euros – and the sale – with prices of up to half a million euros, half of which in black money – of the flats, even though the regulations prohibit it. The fact that the flats are in a very desirable location, as well as having a swimming pool, gym and paddle tennis courts, has also generated much debate.

So far, the Generalitat Valenciana and the City Council – both governed by the PP – have evaded any responsibility and have only announced the creation of two investigation commissions, one autonomous and one local. The Ministry of Housing – responsible for supervising the award – has reported that all the flats have been processed by a civil servant who accepted files – including that of his own wife – without evaluating the economic data of the beneficiary's spouse, as required by law. For its part, the consistory has defended that its role is limited to "selling the land at a fixed price" to developers and that it is the Generalitat that must validate the process.

Sant Joan d'Alacant, Valencia and a former Compromís official, also under suspicion

The Alicante scandal has been aggravated by the possibility that a similar case has occurred in the municipality of Sant Joan d'Alacant, where the City Council has reported possible irregularities in the commercialization of protected housing by the developer awarded a municipal plot tendered in 2025. The mayor, the popular Santiago Román, has pointed out that "allegedly misleading advertising, promotion and reservation or advance payment collection" actions have been observed.

Furthermore, in Valencia, the PSPV has filed a complaint with the Prosecutor's Office regarding the exchange of four municipal plots for the construction of protected housing for a building of 39 flats. The construction company, according to neighborhood complaints, canceled the reservations that had been formalized shortly before opting for the exchange – a circumstance prohibited by the call. The award of protected housing to the former director of the Valencian Cartographic Institute and member of Compromís, Xavier Navarro, in 2017, when he had a salary of 60,000 euros – higher than the limit of 46,800 stipulated at the time by law – has also been controversial, a fact reported by the newspaper Las Provincias and which the Ministry of Housing is investigating.