He colonel José María Tienda Serrano will have to be restored as head of the Provincial Command of the Civil Guard in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, according to a ruling of the Central Contentious-Administrative Court number 7 of Madrid, in which the magistrate-judge Eduardo Ángel Perdiguero argues that the resolution signed by the sSecretary of State for SecurityRafael Pérez Ruiz, on March 8 of this year by which the dismissal was decreed was not motivated enough so that the command of the Armed Institute could defend itself.
The sentence was signed on October 26 and It is not final, since an appeal can be filed against it. in the same judicial body within fifteen days following notification to the parties. In this way, Tenerife produces a case similar to that of Civil Guard colonel Diego Pérez de los Cobos, who was dismissed from the Madrid Command Headquarters for not informing the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, of a judicial investigation to determine whether the 8-M demonstration in Madrid could have contributed to an expansion of covid-19. The Supreme Court decided three years later that Pérez de los Cobos should return to the position of head of Command, which occurred last July.
Intense weeks
The dismissal of Colonel José María Tienda of his position at the head of the Command took place in the midst of two alleged cases of corruption that were very high in the media. The first was the Mediator casein which the alleged payments made by businessmen to former politicians of the PSOEan intermediary and the former general Francisco Espinosa Navas in exchange for benefits for their commercial companies. And the second was the one called Cuarteles case, for which a Canarian businessman is being investigated, Ángel Ramón Tejera de Leónknown as Mon, and in command of the Civil Guard por the numerous orders and concessions that the former received for carrying out, sometimes partially or defectively, renovation or maintenance work on security force facilities.
Colonel Tienda Serrano appears in a conversation with General Espinosa Navas, within the framework of the Mediator case, in which they talk about a “cousin.” In the absence of certainty, one of the suspicions of some researchers is that both were referring to Tejera de León.
This is a case similar to that of Colonel Pérez de los Cobos in the Madrid Command in 2020
And, within the Cuarteles case, andThe businessman Mon carried out many interventions in the offices of the Armed Institute in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife between 2014 and 2021, sometimes through direct awards and, on other occasions, its competitor in the tender for awarding the works was a partner. Ángel Ramón Tejera de León is the link between both cases of alleged corruption.
However, To date, it is not known that José María Tienda Serrano has been called to testify as being investigated in any of these matters, according to sources from the Civil Guard.
Appeal appeal
Following his dismissal on March 8, Colonel Tienda presented an appeal to the Ministry of the Interior, which was dismissed by said department of the State Government on May 25.
The aforementioned command of the Civil Guard decided to file a contentious-administrative appeal. The legal representation of Tienda Serrano He based his claim on the fact that, for his dismissal, the established legal procedure was not followed, there was no motivation and there was a misuse of power.
The State Attorney He opposed the aforementioned appeal and requested confirmation of the Interior resolution, with the arguments that the Command Headquarters is a freely appointed position, “so it can be dismissed due to loss of confidence due to non-exemplary behavior.”
Furthermore, the same official indicated that there was a “succinct motivation” in the aforementioned Resolution, so there was no defenselessness for the colonel. He also rejected that there was a misuse of power, since it is not explained what different purpose was sought with the dismissal of Tienda.
Magistrate-judge Eduardo Ángel Perdiguero states that ruling 1183/2022 of September 27 of the Supreme Court states that “the legal framework of the Civil Guard does not prevent, but rather confirms, the application of our doctrine on the motivation of the acts.” discretionary in general, and those that take the form of dismissal from positions those who were accessed through the system of free appointment in the Civil Guard.
Remember said judicial authority that the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court requires “not only a formal motivation, but one that is not vague, imprecise or ritualistic, expressing the reasons why personal confidence in performing the position has declined and the reasons why the conditions to continue performing are no longer met.” the discretionary position.
The magistrate-judge indicates that “in the report issued by the Human Resources Service of the General Directorate of the Civil Guard, “The dismissal derives from the loss of confidence due to non-exemplary behavior.” But the judicial authority is of the opinion that said “general formula is not specified in individualized facts that allow the appellant to defend himself against them and, therefore, against the dismissal.”
The ruling, which can be appealed, requires him to pay the salary differences since he left office
Given these circumstances, the judge determines that the resolution of the Ministry of Interior is not sufficiently motivated, so it must be annulled and, in this way, the contentious-administrative appeal formulated is upheld. by Colonel José María Tienda Serrano.
The costs of the process are imposed on the Ministry of the Interior, based on article 139.1 of the Law Regulating Contentious-Administrative Jurisdiction.
Remunerations
The Court’s ruling declares the right of Colonel José María Tienda to return to the position from which he was dismissed, head of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Command, and to be paid the salary differences not collected since the date on which the dismissal became effective.
The aforementioned command of the Civil Guard became Head of the Provincial Command of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 2012. Shortly before his dismissal was decreed in March, he had requested a change of destination to a lower-category position, to the Staff Area, where he would have had no responsibilities or commands in his charge, while at the same time he would have been totally relegated from the main activity.
Some then thought that From high places they had indicated to him that he had to leave the Headquarters and that this was a possible discreet exit. But it was then that the resolution of the Secretary of State for Security arrived to make his dismissal official and that his abandonment of the Headquarters did not simply happen due to a change of destination.
Part of Colonel Tienda’s career in the Civil Guard was linked to the Helicopter Unit (UHEL) and in his eleven years as head of the Provincial Command of Santa Cruz de Tenerife he was characterized by his discretion.
