seven consulates
Elche City Council led the ranking for the highest number of non minor emergency contracts in the year 2020 within the Community of Valencia during the Covid-19 outbreak. The cumulative value of these agreements reached 1,174,541 euros, while the overall expenditure for such contracts stood at 6,918,341 euros excluding value added tax. This finding comes from a recent audit by the Sindicatura de Comptes, released in the latest inspection report. The document also notes that the Alicante Provincial Council showed the smallest level of representation, in contrast to the Torrevieja Municipal Council, which appeared at the opposite end of the spectrum. The emphasis rests on how local bodies navigated emergency procurement amid a public health crisis, with Elche emerging as a standout case in both contracting activity and spend. The broader picture highlights how different municipalities in the region managed urgent purchases during a time of unprecedented pressure on health services and public safety.
Local authorities across the Valencia region, each serving populations exceeding fifty thousand residents, spent a total of 2.43 million euros in 2020 on masks and other protective equipment through contracts classified as emergency or contingency measures. The Sindicatura de Comptes report collects these figures as part of its examination of procurement practices used when the pandemic first disrupted daily life across the globe. The audit emphasizes the scale of protective gear procurement as a defining element of the 2020 response by local entities, reflecting the sudden demand spikes and logistical challenges experienced at that time.
seven consulates
The audit scrutinizes contracts executed by seven municipalities in the Alicante province — Alcoy, Benidorm, Elche, Elda, Orihuela, San Vicente del Raspeig and Torrevieja. From the remainder of the Valencian Community, scrutiny extends to the municipal councils and three county councils in Castellón, as well as Gandia, Paterna, Sagunto, Torrent and Villarreal. Notably, the municipalities of Alicante and Valencia themselves are not included since they are already covered by another authority, the SAI. In 2020, these city councils formalized a total of 79 non minor contracts, amounting to 6.9 million euros in the Covid related framework. This level of activity underscores how emergency procurement spun up across multiple local government units during the height of the pandemic.
Castellón stood out as the municipality processing the most non minor contracts during the year, while Elche recorded the highest total value for these agreements at around 1.1 million euros. The breakdown by contract type shows significant allocation to protective gear for city councils and county councils, close to 2.4 million euros; food procurement around 2 million euros; surveillance and access control near 970 thousand euros; cleaning and disinfection efforts about 610 thousand euros; social assistance roughly 329 thousand euros; maintenance and protective gear close to 214 thousand euros; investment in new technologies around 213 thousand euros; and Covid testing close to 111 thousand euros. These allocations reveal how diverse the emergency spending was, spanning health, safety, and essential services.
During the 2020 audit, a total of 16 institutions faced findings. The Alicante provincial body reported the fewest issues with five, whereas Torrevieja City Council registered 26, indicating a notable variance in compliance reporting across the examined entities. Overall, the incidents relate to adherence to internal rules for emergency procedures, the justification for emergency contracting, the drafting, awarding, and formalization of such contracts, and the implementation of emergency contracts consistent with sound management principles. The report frames these observations as part of a broader assessment of governance during an emergency procurement surge.
advices
The Sindicatura de Comptes offers actionable recommendations for city councils and district authorities. It urges the adoption of clear procedural guidelines for handling emergency contracts or the explicit inclusion of these rules within annual budget execution guidelines. A key suggestion is to separately document the reasons behind applying extraordinary procedures for each emergency contract. The report also advises keeping contractual activity strictly limited to what is necessary to prevent or mitigate the damage caused by the emergency. In addition, the document commends the high level of transparency during 2020, noting that nearly all local public entities in the Valencian Community supplied information to the Sindicatura de Comptes and the Court of Accounts. Of the 840 entities in the regional local public sector, 831 submitted reports, representing about 98.9 percent of contracts or corresponding communications for the year. This strong compliance signal underscores the commitment to accountability even in challenging times.