The Principality appoints Vanesa González as the new Director of Childhood and Families

The Governing Council of the Principality of Asturias agreed on October 13, 2026, to the dismissal of Clara Sierra Caballero and the appointment of Vanesa González Díaz as the new director general of Childhood and Families, a body attached to the Department of Social Rights and Welfare. Both movements are formalized in two decrees published in the Official Gazette of the Principality of Asturias (BOPA) no. 199, of October 14, 2026, within section I. Principality of Asturias, under the heading Authorities and Personnel. These are Decree 76/2026, which provides for the dismissal, and Decree 77/2026, which resolves the appointment.

The two texts are issued under article 10.6 of the Law of the Principality of Asturias 8/1991, of July 30, on the Organization of the Administration, in relation to articles 25.l) and 38.e) of the Law of the Principality of Asturias 6/1984, of July 5, on the President and the Governing Council. The appointment decree adds a reference to article 30 of the Law of the Principality of Asturias 8/2018, of September 14, on Transparency, Good Governance, and Interest Groups. In both cases, the initiative comes from the Counselor of Social Rights and Welfare and requires a prior agreement from the Governing Council, adopted at the meeting on October 13, 2026.

The Directorate General for Childhood and Families is the management center that assumes the scope of guaranteeing the rights of children and the family within the Department of Social Rights and Welfare. Its budgetary weight is reflected in the call for grants for programs of general interest for social purposes, the resolution of which was signed on August 12, 2026, and published in BOPA no. 162, of August 21, 2026 (BDNS 924978).

Dismissal and appointment, in two decrees signed in Oviedo

• Decree 76/2026, of October 13: provides for the dismissal of Clara Sierra Caballero as director general of Childhood and Families, “thanking her for the services rendered” (Code 2026-08392).
• Decree 77/2026, of October 13: appoints Vanesa González Díaz as director general of Childhood and Families (Code 2026-08394).
• Both are signed in Oviedo on October 13, 2026, by the President of the Principality, Adrián Barbón Rodríguez, and by the Counselor of Social Rights and Welfare, Nerea Monroy Rosal.
• Both decrees appear published in BOPA no. 199, of October 14, 2026, in section I. Principality of Asturias, under the heading Authorities and Personnel.

The termination and appointment are processed simultaneously and with identical legal justification, so that the replacement at the head of the management center is finalized in the same session of the Governing Council. Councilor Nerea Monroy Rosal had been appointed to the position by Decree 28/2026, of August 28, published in BOPA no. 168, of August 31, 2026, meaning the replacement in Childhood and Families is one of the first personnel movements of her department.

A general directorate with weight in social policy

The area of action B-Guarantee of children’s and family rights concentrates a significant portion of the 0.7% IRPF and Corporate Tax funds managed by the Principality. In the 2027 call for grants for programs of general interest, endowed with a total of 9,690,000.00 euros, this area receives 2,000,000.00 euros, distributed as follows:

• Line B.1, prevention, support, and intervention to favor family capacity and responsibility: 1,040,000.00 euros.
• Line B.2, promotion of children’s rights and child participation: 440,000.00 euros.
• Line B.3, complementarity to foster care and adoption and support for the socio-labor insertion of young people who have been under protection measures: 520,000.00 euros.

Applications for this area are directed to the Rights Promotion, Family Support, and Protection Service of the General Directorate of Childhood and Families, identified with the code DIR A03045378. The general directorate also appears as the reference unit in the personnel and contracting resolutions of the Department of Social Rights and Welfare, which manages children’s accommodation centers and childhood services in Oviedo, Gijón, Avilés, and other Asturian towns.

A replacement without further detail in the official text

The published decrees are limited to formalizing the termination and the appointment: they do not include a biography, professional trajectory, or agenda of the new holder, nor do they explain the reasons for the replacement. The text of the termination closes with the formula of gratitude for services rendered, common in this type of provision, and that of the appointment with the direct designation, without a probationary period or additional conditions.

The replacement comes barely a month and a half after the inauguration of councilor Nerea Monroy Rosal and in the midst of the processing of the 2027 grant call, whose resolution period is four months from the closing of the application submission.

For readers, the change affects the unit that decides on foster care, adoption, prevention of child abuse, and childhood programs in Asturias, and which channels two million euros annually in grants to third-sector entities. The simultaneous publication of both decrees in BOPA no. 199, dated October 14, 2026, leaves the handover formalized without an interim head of the general directorate.

Source: Official Gazette of the Principality of Asturias, no. 199 of October 14, 2026, section I. Principality of Asturias, Authorities and Personnel (official reference: Code 2026-08392 and Code 2026-08394).