The jury decided to award this special mention for the “high quality and methodology of the piece, as well as the excellent team behind it”. The team that carried out the investigation was made up of Sergio Sangiao Pérez, Ignacio Calle Fernández, José Molina Gracia, Adela Vived Maza and Stéphane M. Grueso Lenoir.
In this investigation, the Maldita.es team accessed the accounts of the municipal groups of the Madrid City Council Plenary for the years 2015, 2016 and 2017, releasing and explaining to the public — for the first time — the spending of the different political parties in the city of Madrid. The database details how the Popular Party, Ahora Madrid, PSOE and Ciudadanos spent the funds they received through public subsidies.
The 2021 API Local Journalism Award was granted to journalist Isabel Cadenas for the work “Una placa en mi pueblo”, published on the podcast “De eso no se habla”. The jury highlighted that it has “an excellent script and is framed within a fully local concept. At the same time, the topic has a strong advocacy-driven character”.
The jury for the award was made up of Mexican reporter and human rights defender Lydia Cacho; photojournalist Jesús Blasco de Avellaneda; data journalist Paula Guisado (RTVE); Dr. Manuel Gertrudix (URJC); and investigative journalist Antonio Rubio (API).