€45m EU bracelet fraud probe: Balearic MEP seeks answers

Palma, Mallorca: A suspected fraud inquiry puts around €45 million in EU funding for bracelets intended to protect women facing gender-based violence under scrutiny. On 12 November, Balearic People’s Party MEP Rosa Estaràs calls on the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to pursue the investigation to the end. She says faults in the Cometa protection system have put women’s safety and confidence in it at risk.

Faults left devices unreplaced

Estaràs says the first problems with Cometa appeared in 2023 and 2024. Later faults prevented new devices from being installed or defective ones from being replaced for at least eight months, she says.

The suspected fraud concerns EU funds used to buy the bracelets. Estaràs wants investigators to establish how the roughly €45 million cited in a complaint by the anti-fraud office of Spain’s General State Comptroller was managed, and whether procurement and financial rules were followed.

Brussels may seek more information

Estaràs first raised the system’s faults with the European Commission in September 2025. On 2 December, she sought answers about the award and operation of the contract and the use of EU funds.

She has also raised a possible breach of data-protection rules. According to Estaràs, Spain’s Data Protection Agency had no record of the Equality Ministry reporting a security breach in the system.

In a reply dated 30 January 2026, the Commission said it knew about the Cometa problems. If breaches of EU rules are confirmed, it said it could seek more information and take corrective action.

Topics: Police · Social affairs

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com