Whistleblower protection authorities meet in compliance with Law 2/2023

Press release

Barcelona, 18 March 2026.- The Agency for the Prevention and Fight against Fraud and Corruption of the Valencian Community (AVAF) has participated in the coordination session of the independent whistleblower protection authorities established by Law 2/2023, of 20 February, regulating the protection of people who report regulatory breaches.

 

In addition to the AVAF, the meeting was attended by the state-owned Independent Authority for the Protection of Whistleblowers, the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia, the Office of Good Practices and Anti-Corruption of the Autonomous Community of Navarre, the Andalusian Office against Fraud and Corruption, the Galician Authority for the Protection of Whistleblowers, the Independent Authority on Corruption of Castilla y León,  the Council of Transparency and Good Governance of Castilla-La Mancha and the Council of Transparency and Data Protection of the Community of Madrid.

 

During the meeting, the authorities discussed the status of the processing of the draft of the Organic Law on Public Integrity and the need to establish common criteria for the consistent application of Law 2/2023. Among other issues, the competence model of the different independent authorities, the ways of exercising the sanctioning power, the protection of whistleblowers and the procedures for notifying the people responsible for the internal information systems were discussed.

 

The competent authorities in the field of whistleblower protection have held their biannual cooperation meeting at the headquarters of the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia, in a hybrid format: face-to-face and telematic. This meeting marks the beginning of a stable calendar of periodic meetings that will take place on a rotating basis in different autonomous communities.

 

Article 42.3 of Law 2/2023 establishes that “the presidency of the Independent Authority for the Protection of Whistleblowers, A.A.I. shall convene, on its own initiative or when requested by another authority, the regional authorities for the protection of whistleblowers to contribute to the consistent application of the regulations on the protection of whistleblowers. In any case, semi-annual cooperation meetings will be held”.

 

The article adds that “the presidency of the Independent Authority for the Protection of Whistleblowers, A.A.I. and the regional authorities for the protection of whistleblowers may request and facilitate the mutual exchange of information necessary for the fulfilment of their functions. Likewise, they may constitute working groups to deal with specific matters of common interest and establish common guidelines for action”.

The AVAF presents a catalogue with 100 risks of corruption in urban management in the Valencian Community

Press release

Valencia, 2 February 2026.- The Agency for the Prevention and Fight against Fraud and Corruption of the Valencian Community (AVAF) has published its new “Catalogue of risks against integrity in urban planning”, a technical document that identifies a hundred situations of vulnerability in the management of the territory. This work, issued in compliance with the Agency’s risk analysis functions, arises as a response to the historical problem of urban corruption in Spain and, specifically, after receiving fifty complaints about urban action in the 2024 financial year alone.

 

A vulnerable sector with an impact on local farms.

Urban planning has been for decades a focus of practices contrary to integrity, especially during the so-called “real estate boom”, where the legal system was distorted in favor of speculation. The AVAF catalogue warns that the abusive use of urban planning as a source of municipal financing has generated “economic asphyxiation” and budgetary tensions in local administrations, as the maintenance and service costs associated with new developments are not correctly assessed.

 

Main risks detected

The document systematizes 100 specific risks and proposes mitigating measures for each of them. Among the areas of greatest danger identified by the AVAF are:

  • Personnel and resource management: The lack of qualified civil servants and the excessive outsourcing of public functions to external technical services or commercial companies.
  • Conflicts of interest: The difficulty of detecting who is behind corporate networks in urban planning files and the lack of abstention from public office when it is mandatory.
  • Urban discipline and inactivity: The “urban indiscipline” derived from administrative inaction, which has allowed the proliferation of illegal constructions and degraded areas without basic services.
  • Poor asset management: The absence of an updated Inventory of Assets and Rights in many municipalities, which prevents an effective defence of public heritage and generates lack of control over endowment land.

 

Proposals for ethical and sustainable management

The AVAF stresses that sustainability in development is not a duty, but a necessity to avoid “devastating consequences” on the territory and public finances. To this end, the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency urges institutions to implement public integrity frameworks that include prevention plans, codes of ethics, internal reporting channels and continuous training of staff.

In addition, a call is made to strengthen real transparency in decision-making processes, guaranteeing the right of citizens to access information on territorial planning and urban planning agreements.

 

The complete catalogue and its mitigating measures are available for public consultation at:

https://www.antifraucv.es/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Catalogo_AVAF_Urbanismo.pdf

The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency Hosts an OECD Mission in Valencia within the Framework of the Local Indicators of Corruption and Integrity Risks Project

Press release

Valencia, 18 December 2025.– The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency (AVAF) held a working session in Valencia with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), with the participation of representatives from the Valencian Regional Government (Generalitat Valenciana), within the framework of the “Local Indicators of Corruption and Integrity Risks System” project (LOCRIiS Project, by its English acronym), funded by the European Commission.

 

In this first phase of the project, the OECD mission to the Valencian Community aims to collect information and knowledge to support the development of a proposal for public integrity indicators, based on those previously developed by the OECD itself. The objective is to adapt the indicator system to the context of the Spanish subnational entities participating in the project, as well as to define the development of the subsequent stages of the project.

 

The OECD team, composed of Mike Cressey, Franco Schiappacasse and Josep Espasa, led a workshop focused on the main areas of the proposed indicators, covering fields such as the effectiveness of control and risk management, accountability, and anti-corruption and public integrity strategies. During the session, the members of the mission highlighted and expressed their appreciation for the valuable technical contributions made by the General Intervention, the General Inspectorate of Services, and the Directorate-General for Transparency and Participation of the Generalitat, who took part in order to share their experience in the areas under analysis. The meeting was chaired by the Director of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency, Eduardo Beut, and featured the active participation of the institution’s technical staff.

 

Following the workshop, a bilateral meeting was held between the OECD and AVAF to analyse the results of the session and to move forward with planning the next phases of the project, which is coordinated by the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency together with its counterparts in Andalusia and Catalonia.

 

Based on the information gathered during this in-person workshop and in future bilateral virtual meetings, the OECD will prepare an analytical report that will include a proposal for indicators adaptable to municipalities, as well as a methodological manual to guide data collection and evaluation. This material will be complemented by an online learning module aimed at facilitating the participation of regional and local administrations in the process.

 

At a later stage, and in order to validate the subnational public integrity indicators, the OECD, in collaboration with AVAF, will select up to three municipalities in the Valencian Community where, in mid-2026, workshops will be held to carry out a pilot data collection exercise.

 

The results of this pilot phase will enable the OECD to provide technical guidance to support the implementation of public integrity indicators across all local entities in the Valencian Community and to contribute to the design of a strategic approach that strengthens Valencian public integrity systems.