The Generalitat has resolved with a warning the disciplinary case opened against Ricardo Cantero, a firefighter stationed in Lloret de Mar, for his comments against the 40% quota for women. The sanction does not carry any employment or economic effects, although the affected individual claims it prevents him from being promoted to corporal.
The General Directorate of Prevention, Fire Extinction and Rescue of the Generalitat has closed with a warning the disciplinary case opened against firefighter Ricardo Cantero, stationed at the Lloret de Mar park, for his public criticisms of the 40% quota for women in the body’s entrance exams. According to sources from the Bombers de la Generalitat consulted by this newspaper, the resolution does not imply any employment or economic sanction.
Cantero, who has become one of the most visible voices against the measure promoted by the Department of Interior, shared the contents of the case and the final resolution on his social media. In his posts, the firefighter has stated that the warning harms his chances for future promotions: "It effectively eliminates me as a corporal," he noted.
The case was opened after the body’s management became aware of statements that, according to the document, could include "inaccurate assertions" capable of harming "the image and trust of the public" in the Bombers. The text warned that these messages could call into question the "safety" and "professionalism" of the service, as well as "generate an unjustified sense of risk or danger" regarding its operational capacity.
"It is unfair and they are taking away a right from me. After enduring months of harassment, pressure, insults, slander, and defamation, I am being disciplined and pursued for defending that the best people should enter the fire service: candidates who can objectively demonstrate more skills, abilities, and capabilities," Cantero declared on his public profiles.
The firefighter's lawyer, Linda López, has announced that they will seek to nullify the resolution and, if the appeal is dismissed, they will take legal action. López argues that the case "does not prove that he disobeyed instructions, revealed confidential information, acted during service, caused any effective harm to the functioning of the body, or harmed the general interest."
According to the lawyer, the Generalitat has sanctioned statements made "in the exercise of his freedom of expression, outside of service, and within the framework of a debate of evident public interest." The defence believes that the resolution constitutes "a violation of the principles of legality, specificity, culpability, presumption of innocence, and proportionality," as well as a situation of "defenselessness" due to the lack of incorporation and clarification of all the background that led to the case.
López insists that "a critical opinion has been sanctioned, not a conduct that is disciplinarily reproachable." She also maintains that "the position defended by Ricardo has never been against the incorporation of women into the body nor against equal opportunities." According to his defence, the debate has focused on the access system, the principle of merit and capability, and the advisability of evaluating certain tests, especially theoretical ones, with the same criteria for all candidates.
The measure reserving 40% of places for women in the entrance exams for the Bombers de la Generalitat was established in 2022 by the Department of Interior, with the aim of correcting the historical underrepresentation of women in a traditionally male-dominated body. The first cohort to benefit from this measure has joined in 2025, a process that has doubled the female presence in the body: from the current 74 female firefighters to 164, a figure that the Generalitat describes as "historic."
This resolution comes amid an intense public debate on positive discrimination policies in emergency services. While the Generalitat defends the measure as necessary for advancing towards real equality, critical sectors, such as that represented by Cantero, believe that gender takes precedence over capability. The firefighter and his defence are confident that the courts will annul the warning, considering it violates fundamental rights.
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