Feb22026

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

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

Jan162026

Once again, the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency participates in the Master’s Degree in Public Procurement and Compliance of the University of Valencia

Valencia, 16 January 2026.-  On 15 January 2026, the Agency participated in the teaching of the Master’s Degree in Public Procurement and Compliance of the University of Valencia, in its seventh edition. It is a Master’s Degree with a multidisciplinary approach in which, in addition to the Agency, different entities and universities collaborate.

 

The head of the cabinet and studies of the Agency for the Prevention and Fight against Fraud and Corruption of the Valencian Community, Anselm Bodoque Arribas, gave the presentation “The role developed by anti-fraud agencies in public procurement” during a session of the program of this edition of the Master’s Degree.

 

The objective of this training activity has been to underline the importance of public integrity and ethics to reduce fraud and corruption, participating in a Master’s Degree of the University of Valencia, where students who are specializing in the different particularities of public procurement and compliance, both from the private and public perspectives, participate. The exchange is enriched by the experience of students from different countries, and the comparative analysis of different regulatory frameworks.

 

The Agency’s presentation starts with an explanation of how the strategies to fight fraud and corruption are being configured and focuses on the knowledge of the risks in public management and in the public procurement process that may end up constituting a crime in the course of preparing the administrative file.  the award or execution of a public contract.

 

Anselm Bodoque, began by contextualizing the policies of the fight against corruption in the international changes since the 1990s, to continue with the regulatory framework in relation to corruption, both from the international antecedents, and from the Valencian system of public integrity. To focus on the development of the Agency’s functions and actions, highlighting the importance of prevention for good administration.

 

During the presentation, the complaints received by different control bodies with an impact on public procurement were used to observe the main risks of fraud and corruption that can occur in public procurement, emphasizing situations of conflicts of interest, illustrating their presentation with examples of malpractice.

 

The last part of the conference focused on prevention as a tool in the fight against fraud and corruption, from the international reference manuals, to the material prepared by the Agency to strengthen the integrity of the Valencian Community, and the different specific materials prepared in relation to public procurement.

 

The head of the cabinet and studies of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency ended his speech by thanking the invitation of the Universitat de València and the co-director of the Master’s Degree, María Ángeles Jareño, and wishing success to the students in their professional future.

Dec182025

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

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.