The director of the anti-corruption office, Jaume Far, clarified on Friday that he has "no record" of possible cases of senior officials within the government having been vaccinated irregularly. He made his comments after the Partido Popular opposition had highlighted "rumours" regarding this.
Speaking at the Balearic parliament, Far said that "at the moment we do not have information, and we do not know more than what has appeared in the media".
The original request for information regarding vaccination was withdrawn, as it was considered to be disproportionate and related to everyone who had been vaccinated up until late March. There was also a major issue with data privacy regarding this request from the anti-corruption office, which has instead now asked for information pertaining to some 1,600 people within government and town hall ranks. The government has until April 27 to supply this information.
If any of these people have been vaccinated, the latest request asks whether vaccination protocols were followed and what criteria were applied, as there is no written rule in this regard.
Included among the 1,600 people is President Armengol. Far made clear that "we are not directing an investigation towards" the president, just that she is on the list. Of ministers, it is known that the vice-president, Juan Pedro Yllanes, has been vaccinated, as he - because of his age (61) - was in one of the groups scheduled to be vaccinated. Yllanes tweeted last Sunday that he had been vaccinated.
Far stressed that there have been no anonymous complaints about alleged irregular vaccination of people in public office. Only two complaints have been received - one has come from the PP and the other from political groups at a town hall. He didn't specify which one, but opposition parties in Pollensa have filed a complaint with his office.
The director of the anti-corruption office added that "this is not a typical issue of corruption, it is more a case of ethics and the responsibility that public officials have when it comes to complying with the regulations that they themselves have established".
Saying that he himself has not been vaccinated and that his name is on the list, Far pointed out that if the government does not provide the information, unless there is a good legal reason why not, there could be a fine of up to 100,000 euros.