The Proper Names of the DGAIA Scandal That Directly Implicate ERC

The Directorate General for Child and Adolescent Care (DGAIA) is at the center of controversy due to the corrupt scheme that operated for years. The DGAIA is a public body under the Generalitat dedicated to the protection and care of minors and young people who have aged out of the system. Between 2016 and 2020, it favored private foundations with no-bid contracts and grants awarded irregularly.

The scandal is taking on unexpected dimensions. The DGAIA fostered a corrupt system for years with all kinds of irregularities and mafia-like practices. The case is in the hands of the Anti-Fraud Office, which has had to provide protection to witnesses due to threats.

The scandals are said to have occurred during the governments of Carles Puigdemont and Quim Torra, and therefore affect ERC and Junts. But ERC is the most adversely affected. The Department of Social Affairs and the successive directions of the DGAIA were in the hands of the Republicans during those years.

Chakir El Homrani, Minister During the Scandals

So far, irregularities from the period 2016-2020 have been documented. In 2016, the newly invested president of the Generalitat, Carles Puigdemont, appointed the Republican Dolors Bassa as Minister of Social Affairs. But her term was short, as she was dismissed in October 2017 by Article 155.

The new government led by Quim Torra chose Chakir El Homrani as the new Minister of Social Action. During his term, between 2018 and 2021, the scandals that are being investigated today occurred.

El Homrani joined ERC in 2004 and in 2015 was elected councilor in the Granollers city council. That same year, he was elected deputy in Parliament and played a very relevant role in the Guaranteed Citizenship Income project. That catapulted him to the Ministry of Social Affairs during a particularly turbulent period.

The new minister not only had to face the political tension of the moment and the limitations of Article 155. He also had to deal with the pandemic. His management was heavily criticized by the opposition, especially for the collapse of aid to the self-employed.

It has now been revealed that during those years, the corrupt scheme between the DGAIA and the private foundations managing the care of minors also operated. The opposition has requested El Homrani's appearance to provide explanations. But a pact between ERC and its partners, PSC and Comuns, has managed to block the investigation in Parliament for now.

Ricard Calvo, the System's Apex

Another key figure in the DGAIA scandal is Ricard Calvo, who was the director of the DGAIA between January 2016 and August 2017. That is, during Dolors Bassa's term in the Ministry of Social Affairs. Ricard Calvo was in ERC's orbit long before entering politics and was a Republican councilor in Girona.

His case is particularly significant of how things operated in the DGAIA during those years. Ricard Calvo, as president of the DGAIA, benefited private foundations of which he was also a part. Calvo was the treasurer of the Educational Platform, a conglomerate of entities benefited with public money from the DGAIA.

But it doesn't end there. It has just been revealed that one of these entities, Fundació Resilis, allegedly obtained public money to enrich itself with the purchase of 500 apartments. That foundation was also controlled by Calvo.

Georgina Oliva and Ester Cabanes, Also Under Suspicion

Ricard Calvo's successor was Georgina Oliva, who was a personal choice of Chakir El Homrani for that position. She was the director of the DGAIA between August 2017 and October 2018, under Quim Torra's government. Before taking the position, she had been a deputy in Congress and had held several organizational positions in ERC.

During her short term, corrupt practices continued. During those years, contracts were awarded irregularly, and aid was granted to young people who did not meet the requirements.

Oliva was succeeded by Ester Sara Cabanes, who remained as director of the DGAIA until September 2024. During her term, she caused several controversies, such as justifying the minors responsible for the Màgic de Badalona rape. "Not all the child aggressors in Badalona are aware of what they are doing," she excused them.

Those statements caused a great stir. It is now known that while she was saying those things and earning 92,000 euros a year, the corrupt practices under the DGAIA's mantle were taking place. A scandal whose key figures all seem to lead back to ERC.

Silence Pact?

Although PSC denounced the irregularities in the DGAIA while in opposition, upon reaching the government, they have blocked the investigation. Why? The reason lies in a silence pact with ERC, which facilitated Salvador Illa's investiture and currently supports the minority socialist government.

The silence pact includes the Comuns, who have also voted in the parliamentary committee to block the investigation. Junts has not been clear on this issue either. They initially requested an investigation but later voted against the minister's appearance.

Additionally, PSC has fueled suspicions by unjustifiably dismissing the DGAIA director appointed six months earlier. In her place, they have appointed a former high-ranking socialist official in the Legislature. This suggests an operation to wipe the slate clean and bury the scandal.

ERC continues to blame the irregularities on the massive arrival of unaccompanied minors and the effects of the pandemic and Article 155. This would have caused a lack of control that led to errors beyond the will of its leaders. But the new information casts doubt on this version and points to a corruption scandal with unpredictable consequences.