The case involving the hiring of the head of personnel at Las Palmas Port, which is being examined by the Las Palmas Prosecutor’s Office, could open a can of worms involving a chain of annulments in procedures of widely varying kinds—something no one at the institution wants. The selection and filling of positions for staff not covered by a collective bargaining agreement at the Las Palmas Port Authority have the formal backing of the State Attorney General’s Office and the Directorate-General for Public Administration. Various opinions and reports issued by both bodies of the General State Administration conclude that the processing of files during Luis Ibarra’s presidency complied with the regulatory framework applicable to public-sector entities. Puertos del Estado informed prosecutors that Ibarra complied with the law.
Letter to prosecutors
The controversy reached a new milestone within the framework of pretrial inquiries 209/2025 by the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of Las Palmas. In response to a letter from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the chairman of Puertos del Estado, Gustavo Santana Hernández, sent an official response on May 12, 2026, confirming that the Directorate-General for Public Administration had issued a favorable opinion on the generic models for selecting staff outside collective bargaining agreements, in accordance with Article 50 of the Consolidated Text of the Law on State Ports and the Merchant Marine (TRLPEMM).
In the report, the chairmanship of Puertos del Estado expressly stated that there are no specific guidelines issued from Madrid for the position of Head of the Human Resources Department or for any specific post, making clear that each Port Authority is responsible for addressing its operational needs while respecting the percentages and stages of the process established in the framework model.
The reports issued by the Central Administration confirm the legal validity of the calls for applications issued during Luis Ibarra’s tenure. The positions taken by the State Attorney’s Office and the Public Administration authorities, together with the decision signed by Gustavo Santana at Puertos del Estado, establish that the filling of positions complied with the procedures set for Spanish port authorities.
Cigarette paper
The origins of this technical scrutiny date back to doubts and challenges raised in political and institutional circles concerning the filling of strategic vacancies and management positions at the port entity. In order to clarify the powers involved and define the Port Authority’s scope of action vis-à-vis the central government bodies, the port’s own chairmanship during Ibarra’s tenure submitted a formal consultation to the State Attorney’s Office in the Canary Islands.
In its opinion, drafted by Chief State Attorney José Luis Risquete Fernández, the state advisory body determined the division of powers established by sector-specific legislation. The document states that, under the Consolidated Text of the Law on State Ports and the Merchant Marine (TRLPEMM), «Puertos del Estado is responsible for drawing up guidelines and procedures for staff selection, from which it follows that the law assigns this public entity the power to establish basic rules for all Port Authorities.» In this way, the State Attorney’s Office specified that the local scope for action had to adhere strictly to the hiring instructions issued by the parent entity at the national level.
Public Administration endorsement
Based on these common guidelines for the national port system, generic models for the terms and conditions governing calls for applications for permanent staff not covered by a collective bargaining agreement were developed. These terms and conditions were sent to the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Public Administration for review and approval.
The Director-General for Public Administration, María Isabel Borrel Roncalés, issued a favorable report validating the proposed selection criteria. In its submission, the Directorate-General justified its decision by verifying that «staff selection within the state-owned port system shall be carried out in accordance with the constitutional principles of equality, merit and ability, through a public call for applications.»
The ministerial report was not limited to a formal review; it also detailed the procedural safeguards essential to the validity of future appointments. To that end, the Public Administration decision expressly emphasizes that «the development of the selection processes arising from this call-for-applications model must comply with the constitutional principles of equality, merit and ability, as well as with the other principles established in Article 55 of Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015 of October 30, approving the consolidated text of the Basic Statute of Public Employees.»
Safeguards and gender impact
The central government body’s review also assessed the procedural impact of the texts in terms of gender perspective and equal opportunities. The assessment concluded that the calls for applications were consistent with the legislation in force in this area, stating that «in compliance with the provisions of Article 55 of Organic Law 3/2007 of March 22 on the effective equality of women and men, it should be noted that the treatment of gender in this procedure is correct (…) Therefore, the gender impact of the aforementioned generic call-for-applications model is considered not to be negative.»
The legal framework outlined by the Public Administration authorities and the State Attorney’s Office establishes that the actions of the senior management of Las Palmas Port remained within the parameters set for the General State Administration. Contrary to the Prosecutor’s Office’s position on human-resources management at the institution, the reports issued by the Central Administration confirm the legal validity of the calls for applications issued during Luis Ibarra’s tenure. The ratification of these procedures by the state’s legal services rejects the existence of arbitrariness in drafting the terms and conditions and confirms that the filling of positions complied with the regulations applicable to Spanish port authorities.
The article Santana responds to prosecutors: Ibarra complied with the law in hiring at Las Palmas Port was first published on canarymaritime.com.
