The interim secretary of Lagrán and Valle de Arana ceases her duties at her own request

The Provincial Council of Álava has dismissed, at her own request, Itsaso Pérez Puelles from the position of secretary-intervention of the Grouping of Municipalities of Lagrán and Valle de Arana, effective September 13, 2026. The decision is formalized through Provincial Order 423/2026, dated September 17, published in the Official Gazette of the Historical Territory of Álava (BOTHA) on Monday, September 28, 2026 (official reference 2026-02720). The dismissal leaves vacant a position reserved for local administration officials with national qualification who provide legal and economic services for both municipalities.

The order originates from the Department of Territorial Balance and Land Use Planning of the Provincial Council of Álava and is signed by the provincial deputy Laura Pérez Borinaga and the Director of Territorial Balance, Javier Gorbeña García. The resolution is based on Article 56 of Royal Decree 128/2018, of March 16, which grants the bodies competent to make appointments the power to revoke them, as well as the thirteenth transitional provision of Law 2/2016, of April 7, on Local Entities of the Basque Country, and Article 24 of Provincial Norm 10/2023, of March 15, on the Government, Organization, and Legal Regime of the Provincial Council of Álava.

The dismissal, at the request of the official herself

According to the published text, Itsaso Pérez Puelles had been appointed on an interim basis through Provincial Order 499/2025, dated October 6. Through a letter dated September 11, 2026, she conveyed to the Lagrán City Council, which holds the presidency of the grouping, her intention to voluntarily resign effective September 13, 2026, and the president of the grouping forwarded this request to the provincial department.

The order further provides:

• To notify the resolution to the City Councils of Lagrán and Valle de Arana and to the Directorate of Relations with Local Administrations and Administrative Registries of the Basque Government.
• To order its publication in the BOTHA.
• To record the revocation in the integrated registry provided for in Article 23 of Royal Decree 128/2018.
• To open the path for contentious-administrative appeal before the Contentious-Administrative Jurisdiction within two months from the day following the notification, in accordance with Article 46 of Law 29/1998, of July 13.

A technical position with a defined profile

The characteristics of the position appear in the provision announcement published by the Lagrán City Council in BOTHA number 109, dated September 23, 2026 (reference 2026-02684):

• Designation: Secretariat, 3rd class.
• Scale: national qualification; subscale secretariat-audit.
• Subgroup: A1/A2; destination complement level 26.
• Specific complement: 29,130.50 euros per year.
• Linguistic profile: Symmetrical C1 (C1C1).
• Mandatory date: June 20, 2025.

The annex of positions with budgetary allocation from the Valle de Arana budget for 2026, published in BOTHA number 98, dated August 28, 2026 (reference 2026-02490), already listed this position as vacant, with a 40% workload and a destination shared between both town halls.

Lagrán opens the provision procedure

On September 16, 2026, the Lagrán Town Hall, under the signature of the mayor-president Urtzi Gaintzarain González de Durana, resolved to initiate the procedure to fill the position through one of the forms provided for in articles 49, 50, and 51 of Royal Decree 128/2018. The announcement establishes a period of five business days from its publication to submit applications, with preference for candidates from the same subscale and priority according to the latest general merit scale published by the Basque Government.

Once the order of precedence is established, a favorable report from the destination local entity will be required from each applicant within ten business days. If no candidates apply, the procedure will continue as provided in articles 52 and 53 of the aforementioned royal decree, and the resolution must be reported to the Plenary in its next session.

The termination returns to interim status a position that had already been without a permanent holder for more than a year: the mandatory date is June 20, 2025, and the position appeared as vacant in the August budgetary documents. For the residents of Lagrán and Valle de Arana, both small municipalities, the position concentrates public certification, legal advice, and economic-financial control, such that its provisional coverage, via service commission or accumulation, conditions the ordinary administrative activity of the two entities until the open procedure is resolved.

Source: Official Gazette of the Historical Territory of Álava (BOTHA), no. 111, September 28, 2026, section I - General Assemblies of Álava and Foral Administration of the Historical Territory of Álava, page 1 (official reference: 2026-02720).