Groningen mayor Peter Rehwinkel does have a volunteer job with the Barcelona-based group United Cities and Local Government after all, the organisation said late on Wednesday.

Earlier, Dutch newspapers had reported the job, which has led the mayor to stand down at the beginning of November, did not exist.

The UCLG statement does not mention Rehwinkel by name but says: ‘The Executive Bureau agreed to mandate the mayor of Groningen in his capacity as member of the executive bureau to act as rapporteur on this topic [crisis and disaster management]’.

However, it remains unclear if Rehwinkel actually has the job as he will no longer be mayor from that date. It is also unclear if Rehwinkel needs to go to Barcelona to fulfill it, the Volkskrant said.

Rehwinkel came under fire when he announced his departure from Groningen two years ahead of schedule to take up the voluntary position. He plans to make ‘limited use’ of civil service redundancy pay to fund the Spanish role.