Chief of Staff to Minister Torres Resigns Amid Mask Contract Controversy in Canary Islands

Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, has appointed Roberto García as the new Chief of Staff of his ministry following Antonio Olivera's decision to step down 'at his own request and for family reasons', according to ministry sources.

Olivera has been part of the minister's team since Torres was President of the Canary Islands, serving as Deputy Minister of the Presidency and Director of the Canary Islands Health Service (SCS) during the 2019-2023 term. Since December 2023, he has been the Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory.

However, ministry sources explain that he has requested to step down for 'family reasons'. Despite leaving the Ministry of Territorial Policy, the Tenerife-born economist has expressed his 'absolute willingness to remain in contact and collaborate' with Ángel Víctor Torres, to whose political project he will 'remain connected' from other professional fields.

Olivera has had to testify in investigative committees in both the Congress of Deputies and the Senate regarding the 'Koldo case' related to the purchase of masks by the Canary Islands Government during the Covid-19 pandemic, a period during which he served as Director of the SCS and Deputy Minister of the Presidency, as well as in the investigative committee for the 'mask case' in the Canary Islands Parliament.

Meanwhile, the new Chief of Staff, Roberto García, has been unofficially coordinating the role during Olivera's paternity leave.

García is a technical specialist in delineation and structural calculation, a civil servant in the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, and has also held high political responsibility positions in the municipality of Artenara, where he has served as mayor and councillor for Finance, Urban Planning, Agriculture, Livestock, Sports, and Housing.

In 2019, he was appointed Chief of Staff to the President of the Canary Islands, a position he held until the end of the previous legislative term in the autonomous community, and since 2023, he has been serving as an advisor in Torres's Cabinet.