On Tuesday, 14 July, the government approved in the Council of Ministers a budget transfer of over €309,840 from the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sport to the Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with Parliament.
The purpose of the money, as set out in the agreement itself, leaves no room for doubt: to cover shortfalls in Chapter 1. In other words, the staff costs of the department headed by Félix Bolaños.
That chapter includes payroll, social security contributions, length-of-service increments and pay supplements for civil servants assigned to the ministry. This is money intended to keep the administrative structure running, not to fund specific programmes or investment.
The operation is not an isolated exception. Just a few months ago, in April, the same executive had already diverted almost €30 million from the department formerly headed by education minister Pilar Alegría to Justice. That instance was to finance digitalisation projects linked to the Recovery Plan.
The difference now is the scale: ten times as much money and a destination that is not technological modernisation but simply meeting payroll.
