The City Council of Madrid will have to start the contracting process again to manage the 18 Comprehensive Centers for Women’s Care (CIAM), after the Administrative Tribunal for Public Contracting of the Community of Madrid has annulled the bidding process. The resolution, dated October 8, partially upholds the appeals filed by the unions Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and Comisiones de Base (Co.bas) against the tender documents for the contest.
The decision, brought forward this Saturday by El País, affects a contract whose estimated value amounts to 50.7 million euros and that was intended to allow the new model of centers to be implemented in January 2027. However, the annulment does not mean the closing of the appeals nor the interruption of care for women. As the City Council has conveyed to the aforementioned newspaper, the Consistory will extend the current contracts while it prepares a new tender.
The clauses that have motivated the annulment
The tribunal focuses its decision on two aspects of the tender documents. On the one hand, it considers that the City Council could not assign to the General Directorate the power to set, autonomously, the minimum services during strike days. This competence cannot be established in the terms set out in the contract.
On the other hand, it calls into question the clauses that required prior municipal authorization for workers to be able to carry out certain public or professional activities, such as communicating with the media, publishing information, or participating in courses and conferences.
The resolution states that the City Council may establish conditions when a worker intervenes on behalf of the institution or of the center itself, but may not impose a general prior authorization for any personal, professional, academic, or union activity of the staff.
For these reasons, the tribunal concludes that it is not legally possible to continue with the bidding process using the current tender documents, since the necessary modifications affect the conditions under which the companies prepared their offers.
The City Council will extend the current contracts
The immediate consequence is that the Consistory will have to correct the clauses identified and publish a new tender. A spokesperson for the Department of Social Policies, Family, and Equality has explained to El País that the City Council will launch new tender documents and that, while the administrative procedure lasts, it will extend the current contracts.
In this way, the centers will be able to continue providing their services while the new tender is processed. The City Council has not yet specified how much the planned calendar will be delayed or when the new management will be awarded.
The canceled tender had been divided into five lots and had received bids from 14 companies. The contract contemplated an initial period of two years, with a budget of around 24 million euros including VAT, and the possibility of two additional years of extension, until reaching an estimated value of 50.7 million.
A new model for 18 centers in Madrid
The tender forms part of the reorganization announced by the City Council to unify the former Equality Spaces and the direct care resources for women victims of gender-based violence into a network of 18 Comprehensive Women’s Care Centers. The project provides for bringing together in these spaces both specialized care and equality-promotion activities, workshops, talks, and guidance.
The future network was to have 273 professionals and was expected to be operational in January 2027. The reorganization had received criticism from the unions, which also questioned aspects such as information about the subrogation of the workforce, the budget, and the distribution of the teams.
Nevertheless, the court has rejected those arguments and other grounds related to working conditions, territorial organization, and budgetary sufficiency. The annulment is limited to the clauses relating to minimum services during strikes and to prior authorization for certain activities by workers.
The ruling is final in the administrative appeal process, although it may be appealed before the Administrative-Contentious Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Madrid.