The Minister of Justice has dismissed the deputy management…

María Jesús Carmen San José López, Minister of Justice and Human Rights, through an Order signed on September 23, has decided to remove Juan Carlos Nieto Ferrero from the position of deputy management director of the Álava prison. The removal will have economic and administrative effects from September 21 onwards, and was published in the Official Gazette of the Basque Autonomous Community, issue number 196 of October 14, with official reference 2026/4237.

The Order is based on Article 103 of Law 11/2022 of December 1 on Public Employment, and was published in Section I of the Official Gazette, under the “Authorities and Personnel” section in the “Appointments, situations and incidents” subsection. The text explicitly states that thanks are expressed to the removed official “for the services provided,” and does not mention the specific reasons for the removal.

Details of the Removal

The operative part of the Order consists of three points:

The removal of Juan Carlos Nieto Ferrero from the position of deputy management director of the Álava prison, in a post with code 512422 and 1 allocation.
The economic and administrative effects of the removal shall take effect on September 21.
The statement that the resolution exhausts the administrative route, acknowledging the possibility of filing appeals against it.

The Order was signed in Vitoria-Gasteiz on September 23, 2026, and bears the signature of Minister María Jesús Carmen San José López.

Temporary Appointment at Aukerak

The date of the removal is not a coincidence. On September 21 itself, the Official Gazette of the Basque Autonomous Community (issue number 180) published the Resolution of September 9 signed by Sofía Archeli Mesonero, director of Aukerak, Basque Agency for Social Integration. That Resolution appointed Juan Carlos Nieto Ferrero as “Person in charge of Active Employment,” in a post with code 512492 and 1 allocation, at the Aukerak – Zaballa Prison center.

The appointment also has economic and administrative effects from September 21 onwards, and is based on Article 102.2.e) of Law 11/2022 of December 1 on Public Employment and the Resolution of June 3, 2026 (BOPV issue number 113, June 17, 2026). Therefore, the removal and the new appointment took place on the same day, as part of an internal movement within the prison administration.

Structure and Background of the Prison Sector

The Basque Autonomous Community assumed competencies in the prison sector on October 1, 2021, through Royal Decree 474/2021 and Decree 169/2021. Since then, the Department of Justice and Human Rights, through the Directorate of Prison Services, plans and manages the human resources of three prison centers, according to the organic structure established by Decree 326/2024.

Appeals and Procedure

The Order exhausts the administrative route. Against it:

An optional appeal for reconsideration may be filed before the same body that issued the order, within one month from the date of notification.
A contentious-administrative appeal may be filed before the Contentious-Administrative Court, within two months from the day following its publication in the Official Gazette.

Conclusion

The dismissal leaves the management responsibility of the Álava prison vacant, and the new appointment shows the continuation of a professional career path within the prison system. Since the decisions apply economic consequences retroactively from September 21, both resolutions —the dismissal and the appointment— share the same date, ensuring the coherence of the administrative management.

Source: BOPV, number 196, October 14, 2026, section I (official reference: 2026/4237).