Tenerife's anti-drug prosecutor is dismissed following his assignment to Ceuta

The Attorney General of the State, Teresa Peramato Martín, has approved the termination due to resignation of Sebastián Zapata Agüera as delegated prosecutor of the Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor’s Office in the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The decision is formalized by Decree of October 19, 2026, and published in the Official State Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado) on November 10, 2026, within section II.A (reference BOE-A-2026-23535).

The termination is framed within the procedure provided for by the Organic Statute of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Regulations of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, approved by Royal Decree 305/2022, of May 3. The affected position is the provincial delegation in Tenerife of a specialized prosecutor’s office whose jurisdiction extends to drug trafficking crimes, an area of particular incidence in the Canary Islands archipelago due to its position as a gateway for substances from Africa and South America.

Resignation due to incompatibility with the assignment in Ceuta

The origin of the file is the official letter sent on September 21, 2026, by the Chief Chamber Prosecutor of the Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor’s Office to the Attorney General of the State, communicating the resignation of the delegated prosecutor in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The reason cited is his appointment as a seconded prosecutor in the Area Prosecutor’s Office of Ceuta, agreed upon by Decree of September 15, 2026, by the head of the Attorney General’s Office.

This secondment extends until December 31, 2026, extendable if the provided circumstances occur, which, according to the decree, “makes it impossible for him to combine both functions.” Added to this is his participation in the regulated transfer competition to another Prosecutor’s Office published on July 9, 2026.

Career of the terminated prosecutor and file procedures

Sebastián Zapata Agüera was appointed delegated prosecutor of the Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor’s Office in the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of Santa Cruz de Tenerife by Decree of July 7, 2015, by the head of the Attorney General’s Office. By Decree of October 7, 2016, it was agreed that this position be held under a regime of exclusive functions.

The file incorporates the following reports and procedures:

• Report from the Chief Chamber Prosecutor of the Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor’s Office, which shows no objection to the resignation due to the impossibility of combining both responsibilities.
• Report from the Chief Prosecutor of the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, sent on October 2, 2026, also favorable to the resignation.
• Hearing of the Prosecutorial Council.

Regulatory basis and notifications

The decree invokes article 36.4 of the Organic Statute of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and Instruction 5/2008, of December 18, of the Attorney General’s Office, which extends the same appointment and dismissal procedure to provincial delegates, following a hearing with the coordinating Chamber Prosecutor and a proposal submitted through the Prosecutorial Inspection.

More specifically, article 62.1, third paragraph, of the Regulations of the Public Prosecutor’s Office allows for the removal of delegated prosecutors of Special Prosecutor’s Offices by the holder of the Attorney General’s Office, upon the proposal of the Chief Chamber Prosecutor of the special prosecutor’s office and after hearing the corresponding Chief Prosecutor. Article 62.3 requires these dismissals to be published in the Official State Gazette.

The agreement orders the notification of the resolution to the Chief Chamber Prosecutor of the Anti-Drug Prosecutor’s Office, the Chief Prosecutor of the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the Superior Prosecutor of the Canary Islands Community, and the Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Courts. Against the decree, which exhausts administrative remedies pursuant to article 114 of Law 39/2015, an optional appeal for reversal may be filed within one month before the Attorney General’s Office, or a contentious-administrative appeal before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court within two months.

The dismissal leaves vacant the provincial delegation of the Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor’s Office in Tenerife, a key piece in the prosecution of drug trafficking in the Canary Islands, at a time when the designated prosecutor is assigned to another post in Ceuta and awaiting the resolution of the transfer competition.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 280, November 10, 2026, section II.A, page 151518 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-23535).