Aragón-Teruel Existe has denounced the centralized model applied by the Government of Aragón in holding competitive examinations for the regional administration and has shown its rejection of the requirement of a minimum of one hundred applicants for a test to be organized in a decentralized manner. This threshold, it has warned, repeatedly leaves the provinces of Teruel and Huesca out in a recurrent way, with an especially serious impact on Teruel. Therefore, the group has again demanded: "Let the exams travel, not the people."
In light of this scenario, Aragón-Teruel Existe has submitted a Non-Law Proposition (PNL) to the Cortes and has also registered a parliamentary question addressed to the minister of Finance, Interior and Public Administration, Roberto Bermúdez de Castro, so that he explains the position of the Executive.
The announcement was made this Wednesday in a press conference by the spokesperson for Aragón-Teruel Existe, Tomás Guitarte, who criticized the "lack of willingness" of the regional government to correct this situation and adapt the competitive examination system to the territorial reality of Aragón.
"We have a regional government that, on paper, speaks of the need for territorial cohesion, of the fight against depopulation, and of equal opportunities, but that, when it comes to the truth, is incapable of decentralizing its activity," he said.
Guitarte detailed that the origin of the problem lies in section 3.3 of the calls, which establishes that only when there are more than one hundred admitted applicants can the exam be held in Huesca or Teruel. "If there are 99, the person taking the exam has to figure out how to examine themselves far from their province," he lamented, underlining the unfairness this entails for those who live outside the Aragonese capital.
According to the data provided by the group, this clause affects 60 selection processes that add up to a total of 1,053 places in the Higher, Technical and Executive Bodies. As an example, Guitarte cited the call for Social Workers, in which 88 people chose Teruel as the examination venue and, despite that, were forced to travel more than 180 kilometers to Zaragoza to carry out a test of barely an hour and a half.
The spokesperson has added that this requirement not only affects the first round of tests, but also the second examinations, the test readings, and the internal promotion processes of public employees assigned in the provinces, who are also forced to assume additional travel and costs.
In his view, "equality is not just putting the same exam; it is not putting geographical or economic barriers in place for those who do not live in the capital," he said, insisting that the current model penalizes those who choose to live and prepare for their civil service exams in rural areas.
Technical difficulties
The spokesperson for Aragón-Teruel Existe has rejected that there are technical impediments to organizing the tests in a decentralized manner and has pointed out that both the Education department and the Servicio Aragonés de Salud already hold exams in the three provinces. He also stated that the Instituto Aragonés de Administración Pública organized simultaneous tests in 2021 and that there are Territorial Delegations with infrastructure and trained staff in Huesca and Teruel.
"There is no logistical or technical problem; what there is is a lack of political will and sloth," he said, indicating that he will ask the Minister of Finance, Interior and Public Administration to clarify whether he intends to eliminate this requirement, as well as a non-legislative motion that proposes removing it immediately, including in ongoing calls for applications when it is legally feasible.
The recorded initiative proposes ensuring that the tests are held simultaneously in Zaragoza, Huesca and Teruel, leaving the choice of the venue to the applicant, and allowing the exam readings to be carried out telematically via videoconference.
It also proposes using the Territorial Delegations as official examination venues and enabling regional sub-venues in Alcañiz, Barbastro and Calatayud for calls with a large number of participants. In addition, it demands that the tests not begin before 10:00 a.m., in order to prevent those who live in small municipalities and depend on public transport from being forced to travel the day before and bear the cost of one night of accommodation.
"A regional government cannot fight depopulation while its own Administration punishes those who decide to live and sit their civil service exams in rural areas," Guitarte warned, concluding: "Let the papers and exams travel, not the people."