Elena Albalat leaves the Department of Social Services along with her entire temporary team

The President of the Generalitat dismissed Elena Albalat Aguilella as the minister of Social Services, Family and Childhood through Decree 16/2026, of October 25, effective from the day of its publication in the Diari Oficial de la Generalitat Valenciana (October 25, 2026). One day later, the Undersecretariat of the ministry resolved the dismissal of the seven people who made up her temporary staff. The resolution is published in DOGV no. 10480, of October 27, 2026, in section II (Authorities and Personnel), with the official reference DOGV-C-2026-33622.

Decree 16/2026 is limited to ordering the dismissal of the head of the department effective from the day of its publication, as stated in the resolution of the Undersecretariat, which invokes it as the immediate precedent. The text appears signed in Valencia on October 26, 2026, by the undersecretary María Luisa Mediavilla Cruz, acting by delegation.

The legal basis for the dismissal of the team is article 20.4 of the Law 4/2021, of April 16, of the Generalitat, on the Valencian public service: “the appointment and dismissal of this personnel shall be discretionary. In any case, temporary personnel shall automatically cease when the authority to whom they provide their advisory or trust function ceases.” The resolution is also issued by virtue of the Resolution of May 27, 2026, on the delegation of the exercise of competencies in certain bodies of the Ministry (DOGV 10373, 05.29.2026).

Seven block dismissals in the trust team

The resolution, dated October 26, dismisses effective October 25 the seven people who held temporary advisory and cabinet positions:

• Andrés Cardelus Ruiz-Alberdi, parliamentary affairs advisor for members of the Consell, category C2, position 23765.
• Iris Cubells Asencio, general affairs advisor for members of the Consell, category C2, position 29153.
• Margarita Frías Sánchez, general affairs advisor for members of the Consell, category C2, position 30151.
• María José López Sánchez, general affairs advisor for members of the Consell, category C2, position 30150.
• Sergio Ramón Muniesa Franco, director of the cabinet for members of the Consell, category C1, position 23762.
• María Luisa Pérez Rodríguez, press advisor for members of the Consell, category C2, position 23766.
• Félix Manuel Sacristán Escalada, general affairs advisor for members of the Consell, category C2, position 30152.

This constitutes, therefore, the complete political support and communication structure of the ministry: six advisors of different profiles and the head of the cabinet.

A portfolio covering childhood, dependency, and disability

The affected department assumes, according to Article 8 of Decree 16/2025, of December 3, the competencies in social benefit policies, social services, dependency, the elderly, persons with disabilities, families, childhood and adolescence, adoptions, development cooperation, and social volunteering. Its organic and functional regulation was approved by Decree 21/2026, of February 13, published in DOGV no. 10305 of February 18, 2026.

The departure of Elena Albalat Aguilella also affects bodies dependent on the department. Ten days before the termination, on October 15, 2026, she still signed, as president of the Valencian Institute of Social Services, the resolution modifying the 2022 stabilization public employment offer (DOGV no. 10474, of October 20, 2026).

Effects from October 25

Both decisions retroactively apply their effects to October 25, 2026, the date of publication of the termination decree, such that the temporary team is dissociated from the Generalitat from that same day. The mechanism applied is automatic and does not require an individual file: the publication of the termination of the authority to whom the personnel provided their advisory or trust function is sufficient.

The termination thus affects the administrative unit that prepares the department’s political documentation and coordinates its communication, at a time when the department is processing subsidies and social agreements linked to childhood, dependency, and persons with disabilities.

The movement has direct relevance for readers because the department is the one that decides on residential places, personal autonomy benefits, aid for families with dependent minors, and social service agreements in the Valencian Community. A change of head and the simultaneous termination of their entire political team opens a period of interim political leadership of these policies until the new appointments are resolved.

Source: Official Gazette of the Generalitat Valenciana, no. 10480, October 27, 2026, section II (Authorities and Personnel), page 1 (official reference: DOGV-C-2026-33622).