The Department of Security has reorganized the Directorate of Games and Emergencies with four decrees

The Department of Security of the Basque Government has reorganized the Directorates of Games and Inspections and of Emergencies and Meteorology through four decrees, approved at the Governing Council meeting on November 3 and published in the Boletín Oficial del País Vasco (BOPV, issue 213) on November 6. Nerea Alday Garate has left the Directorate of Games and Inspections and has been promoted to the Directorate of Emergencies and Meteorology, and Juan Carlos Medina Martínez has been appointed as the new Director of Games and Inspections. Joseba Mirena Zorrilla Ibañez, who was the head of Emergencies, requested to leave the position.

The four regulations —decrees 182/2026, 183/2026, 184/2026, and 185/2026— are expressly based on articles 18.j), 26.6, and 29 of Law 7/1981, of June 30, on Government, upon the proposal of the Minister of Security and following the deliberation and approval of the Governing Council at the meeting on November 3. They were signed in Vitoria-Gasteiz on November 3 by President Imanol Pradales Gil and Minister of Security Bingen Zupiria Gorostidi. The organic and functional structure of the Department is regulated by Decree 318/2024, of October 29, 2024, which establishes the dependency and competence frameworks of these directorates.

A chain consisting of four decisions

The changes are understood as a single piece: the next two decrees fill the positions left vacant by the first two, one day earlier.

• Decree 182/2026 removes Joseba Mirena Zorrilla Ibañez from the position of Director of Emergencies and Meteorology, at his request, and thanks him for the services provided.
• Decree 183/2026 removes Nerea Alday Garate from the Directorate of Games and Inspections, as she is moving to fill another position within the Department of Security, and also thanks her for the services provided.
• Decree 184/2026 appoints Alday as Director of Emergencies and Meteorology.
• Decree 185/2026 appoints Juan Carlos Medina Martínez as Director of Games and Inspections.

Three names and four personnel movements, therefore, in a single chain of decrees: one departure and one relocation renew both directorates, without touching the organic structure.

Entry into force and calendar

The regulations assign different dates to the changes in position, but all are prior to the publication. The removals —due to decrees 182/2026 and 183/2026— took effect on November 3; the appointments, meanwhile —184/2026 and 185/2026— on November 4. They appeared in the official gazette on Friday, November 6, but the final provisions, which include their own effective dates, clarify a calendar that does not coincide with the publication.

Competencies of the Directorates

The Directorate of Games and Inspections has active operations in its own field. Nerea Alday Garate signed announcement 2026/4705, published in the BOPV and dated October 23, to notify the resolutions of sanctioning proceedings brought under the regulations against violence in sports; it specifies that an appeal against these resolutions may be submitted to the Vice President of Civil Protection.

• In the field of gaming, the directorate publishes requests for the return of guarantees, as shown, for example, in announcement 2026/3604.
• In the area of inspections, among other things, the resolution of March 11, 2026, specified random post-mortem analyses of fighting farms for the 2026 bullfighting season.
• The Directorate of Emergencies and Meteorology, on the other hand, is the body that produces reports on environmental and territorial procedures, as seen in several files promoted by the Department.

Why it is important

The simultaneous movement of two directorates within the same Department is not a simple voluntary change: Alday leaves the management of the gaming area and moves to emergencies, and Medina takes over that directorate, holding all powers over gaming. Furthermore, the November 6th official gazette still shows Alday’s signature as Director of Games and Inspections in an announcement dated a few days before she left the position, highlighting the suddenness of the change. Since not only the directorates dependent on the Ertzaintza but also the units that manage administrative resolutions and sanctioning proceedings have moved, the impact is direct for gaming operators, inspectors, and appellants.

Fuente: Boletín Oficial del País Vasco, n.º 213, 6 de noviembre de 2026, Autoridades y Personal (official references: 2026/4693, 2026/4694, 2026/4695 and 2026/4696).