Zaragoza chosen for Spain's new public health agency, sparking backlash from losing cities

The decision

On Tuesday 28 July, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced that Zaragoza would host the headquarters of the new Agencia Estatal de Salud Pública (AESAP). The agency, which will employ around 300 staff, is intended to strengthen Spain's capacity to respond to public health threats. The government had originally set a deadline of 17 February to propose a location, but the decision was postponed until summer due to the number of candidacies. Eight cities submitted bids: Zaragoza, Barcelona, Granada, Lugo, Oviedo, Toledo, Murcia and León.

Reactions from losing cities

The choice drew immediate criticism from several of the unsuccessful bidders. In Oviedo, the coordinator of Izquierda Unida de Asturias, Ovidio Zapico, called the decision "shameful" and "a grave political error". He argued that awarding the agency to a region governed by the far right was unjustifiable.

“For Izquierda Unida this is shameful news and an unjustifiable decision by the central government: taking the State Public Health Agency to an autonomous community governed by the far right.”

The Asturian government's spokesperson, Guillermo Peláez, suggested that Oviedo's bid had been undermined by the city council's initial offer of the La Vega site, which was not ready, followed by a temporary and then final proposal of the Calatrava building. He criticised the mayor, Alfredo Canteli, for implying the decision was a political "cambalache" (swap), calling his remarks "irresponsible" and a "profound institutional disloyalty".

In Granada, the loss was seen as a repeat of 2022, when the city missed out on the Agencia Española de Supervisión de la Inteligencia Artificial. La Razón reported that the decision was a "new punishment" for the city, which had counted on its strong health sciences ecosystem, including the Escuela Andaluza de Salud Pública and the University of Granada. The Andalusian government also expressed disappointment.

Lugo's city council, governed by the PP, accused Sánchez of using "political criteria" and called the decision "a new snub to the people of Lugo". The council said its bid had "solid and differential arguments", including the existing Galician public health laboratory and the Campus Terra research potential. The socialist former mayor, Miguel Fernández, while respecting the decision, demanded that the government publish the criteria that tipped the balance toward Zaragoza.

Barcelona's conciliatory tone

Barcelona, which had presented a "very solid" candidacy backed by over 50 scientific societies and institutions such as ISGlobal and the PRBB, congratulated Zaragoza and offered its expertise. The city had proposed an 8,000-square-metre site in the Escola Industrial and highlighted its own public health agency, which is expanding to a 12,000-square-metre facility. The council said the creation of the AESAP "highlights the importance of guaranteeing the state's capacity to face present and future public health threats".

Political fallout in Asturias

The decision intensified political tensions in Asturias. The PP's health spokesperson, Pilar Fernández Pardo, blamed the regional president, Adrián Barbón, for "inaction" and said Asturias had once again lost a strategic opportunity because the PSOE lacked the political weight to be heard in Madrid. Meanwhile, IU's Gaspar Llamazares described the choice as "inaceptable, inexplicable e injusta", arguing that Oviedo's infrastructure was ready and that Zaragoza's bid would delay the agency's launch by up to two years and require tens of millions of euros in investment.

“It is going to stretch over 15 months; count on two years without an agency, because an investment of tens of millions of euros is still pending.”

The socialist spokesperson in Oviedo, Carlos Fernández Llaneza, called the outcome "a disappointment and terrible news" but said he wanted to see the evaluation report to understand where the city's bid fell short.

What next

The government has not yet published the detailed scoring of the bids. Several losing cities have called for transparency. The AESAP is expected to begin operations once the Zaragoza site is prepared, though critics warn of significant delays.