A planning chief without a degree: the gap in Spain's RUCT registry

When the RUCT shows '0' university degrees: the case of the planning chief without a higher education

A planning director may have started out as a local police officer and worked his way up without ever attending university. That is what a recent investigation into official degree records suggests, where a senior official at a town council in the Basque Country shows zero in the university degrees section of the RUCT (Spain's public registry of university centres and degrees). The finding, which its author calls "illegally obtained evidence", opens a Pandora's box over the real requirements for accessing key positions in local government.

The RUCT versus the Graduates Registry: two registries, a legal void

The Registro Universitario de Centros y Titulaciones (RUCT) is a public system listing centres, degrees and their study plans. It is not a registry of degree holders. That is the role of the Registro de Titulados (Graduates Registry), which can only be accessed with the individual's authorisation. However, the RUCT includes a "university degrees" field linked to each person affiliated with the universities. In this case, that field shows "0". The confusion lies in the fact that a public manager is not required to have a profile in the RUCT, so a zero does not prove the absence of a degree — but in practice, anyone who has been through university usually has their record registered.

From the patrol car to the planning department: a career without papers

According to the investigation, the individual in question joined the town council as a local police officer, "a friend of the mayor". Over the years, he moved on to legal adviser by using "a young straw man with a degree" to sign documents, and was finally appointed planning director, a post reserved for Group A1 civil servants, which requires a university degree or equivalent. The lack of any known degree did not stop his rise, and according to the whistleblower, he operated with impunity for years.

The administration's response and the risk of illegally obtained evidence

The author of the investigation acknowledges that his evidence, although true, is illegal, since he accessed the RUCT without authorisation. A lawyer relative advised him to take the case to the press, especially to media critical of the PNV (the Basque Nationalist Party), to force an investigation. The idea: "make noise so they have no choice but to flush out the truth". Other participants in the analysis warn that in the Basque Country there is a "Law of Silence" that shields the governing party from corruption allegations.

The RUCT shows a zero. The question is how many more zeros are hidden in Spanish town councils while the law on access to the civil service is circumvented with political backing.