The Constitutional Court has ruled in favour of a former Torrevieja local police officer who suffered workplace harassment from his superiors after exposing irregularities, including the withdrawal of fines and lack of nightclub inspections. The court found “institutional harassment” and negligence by the City Council under Mayor Eduardo Dolón’s leadership.
The Council must now compensate the officer with €95,816 plus interest for failing to investigate or prevent the harassment.
Between 2013 and 2016, the officer faced retaliatory actions such as denied holidays, sudden shift changes, withheld pay, and public humiliation. He eventually transferred to another position after an eight-year legal battle, supported by the Anti-Fraud Agency of the Valencian Community.
The High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community previously ruled against him, but the Constitutional Court overturned that decision, citing a failure to uphold judicial protections.
This ruling marks the sixth harassment-related conviction against Torrevieja’s City Council in 15 years, bringing total compensation costs to over €200,000. Despite the ruling, the City Council has not issued a statement.
The ruling details that the police officer reported several irregular practices to his superiors, including the withdrawal of a fine by a former inspector for a friend, the collection of fines in cash, a practice that later led to a prison sentence for the officer involved, and extortion by police officers during shop and restaurant inspections, which resulted in the conviction of three officers.
He also raised concerns about being assigned to conduct selective inspections of nightlife venues, excluding certain establishments with ties to the City Council. One such case involved a well-known nightclub in La Mata, which was later fined and shut down by the Generalitat.
Additionally, in 2023, the Provincial Court sentenced a now-retired Police inspector to eight and a half months in prison for tampering with public records, after it was proven that he cancelled a traffic fine for an acquaintance. The recipient of the withdrawn €200 fine was also sentenced to seven and a half months in prison for influence peddling and was ordered to pay the fine along with court costs.
In 2022, the Provincial Court convicted two Torrevieja local police officers of extortion, sentencing them to five years and three years and six months in prison, respectively. A jury found them guilty of demanding money from businesses in exchange for protection from administrative fines.
