The incompatibility of article 178.2.b) LOREG between the position of councilor and employee of the same local entity: balancing complex constitutional interests
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The legal framework of local elected officials’ incompatibilities, especially that of article 178.2.b) Organic law of the General Electoral Procedure (LOREG), is one of the areas that present an intense constitutional conflict because of the complexity and variety of each municipality. The applicability of Article 23 of the Spanish Constitution has forced the Central Electoral Board and courts to establish a list of exceptions to that constitutional provision. In this line, the article analyzes the conditions for reconciling the position of councilor with that of the staff of the consistory itself, where there is a complex balancing of constitutional interests. The solution is still not peaceful and requires further developments for a better protection of the constitutional rights at stake. These are the rights set forth in article 23 of the Spanish Constitution, which allows political participation, and rights provided by Article 103 of the Spanish Constitution, which try to prevent conflicts of interests by guaranteeing objectivity and the general interest of Spanish local entities.