The Popular Party of Lanzarote has accumulated years of political instability that ended up exploding with the departure of Ástrid Pérez from the insular presidency. After a term of crises and ups and downs, the regional Executive of the party decided to remove the most recognized face of the PP on the island and close the book on almost two decades of management. Since then, María Jesús Tovar has been in charge of the caretaker committee.
A little more than a week after Ástrid Pérez's departure from the presidency, it became public that the then CEO of the Centers of Art, Culture and Tourism, Ángel Vázquez (Popular Party), a staunch supporter of Pérez, had participated in the hiring process in which his son obtained a permanent position as a dishwasher at the Centers in the summer of 2025.
Following the public announcement of this hiring at the beginning of October this year, the president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort (CC), ordered the Secretariat of the Board of Directors of the Centers to prepare a report to clarify what happened. This report generated a series of public reactions that ended with the dismissal of Ángel Vázquez, on medical leave since October 9, by the Popular Party.
Among the observations in the report, the Secretariat points out that the selection process by which Vázquez's son obtained a permanent position as a dishwasher is from 2025 and that "the time lapse between the hiring of personnel and its publication in the press" more than a year later is striking.
Despite withdrawing his management of the Centers, neither Oswaldo Betancort nor the PP have asked Ángel Vázquez to hand over his seat on the Cabildo of Lanzarote, as demanded by the PSOE, and his party has also kept him as spokesperson on the island.
The details of the legal report
The legal report for which Betancort asked the PP to take measures concludes that Ángel Vázquez should have recused himself from July 14, 2025, the same day the Centers published the provisional list of admitted candidates in the process to obtain a permanent position as a dishwasher, among whom was his son.
The document indicates that the recusal should have occurred because a "direct relative" was participating in the selection process. Thus, it concludes that once it was known that his son had been selected in that process, Vázquez should have informed the Presidency that he had to recuse himself for family reasons.
"The CEO should not have signed any document dated after July 14, 2025, and if he did, with prior validation," the document states. Thus, it points out that almost three months later, there is a handwritten document dated October 6, 2025, in which Vázquez delegates his work in the selection process, but "does not abstain." At that time, the selection process already had a set date and "he already knew that his son had been admitted."
The report urges to assess whether the CEO "may have influenced" the decisions of the tribunal that studied the submitted candidacies. Meanwhile, it adds that the documentation obtained in the process does not include the hiring proposal signed by the Tribunal, which must be submitted to the CEO.
To address this situation, the report proposes two options: declare the entire selection procedure null and void, which means redoing the tests and evaluating them; or, declare the selection process voidable and revert it to the point where Vázquez should have abstained. This second scenario opens the way to "not prejudice the rights" of other workers who have passed the selection process and are already hired in the Centers.
Recommendations for future selection processes
The report also states that for future selection processes, external personnel from other administrations, entities, or organizations should participate in the tribunals in order to "guarantee objectivity." At the same time, all documentation "must be included in an electronic file," given that some documents in the process are handwritten.
The document also highlights that for the development of the selection process, the use of templates and correction sheets is recommended, which must be signed by each member of the tribunal; in addition to an official record signed electronically by all members of the tribunal.
At the same time, the document proposes that, in view of the modification of the Statutes that are being processed, selection processes should be regulated, where it recommends that elected members "not be part of the selection bodies."
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