The unthinkable has happened and Valencia regional premier Francisco Camps has stood down due to his imminent trial to face corruption charges. The decision, it seems, did not come from Camps himself, who had clung to his post like a limpet despite mounting evidence that he received around €14,000 worth of tailored clothes from businessmen in exchange for awarding lucrative contracts on behalf of the regional government. Instead, it was reportedly Popular Party leader Mariano Rajoy who pressured Camps to either step aside or declare himself guilty. Either option would avoid a damaging corruption trial of a high-profile PP baron in the autumn, when the party might be waging a general … [Read more...] about ¡Viva la corrupción!
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The mystery of Rajoy and the Spanish economy
“I know about economics. I’m not an economist but I know about economics and I have aides whom I consult.” This comment, made during a recent television interview, is not very reassuring coming from a man who aspires to become Spain’s prime minister in the near future. But then Mariano Rajoy is rarely unequivocal in his handling of the conservative Popular Party (PP) he leads. According to many, his reluctance to be clear-cut and firm is typical of the ambiguous Galician character. One obvious example is Rajoy’s management of the ongoing corruption scandal rocking his party. The lack of a clear policy on this has meant that some PP politicians facing investigation for the Gürtel … [Read more...] about The mystery of Rajoy and the Spanish economy
Garzón, the PP, and a Byzantine justice system
As growing numbers of people around the world will know by now, investigating magistrate Baltasar Garzón is in hot water. The man best-known for having ordered the arrest of Augusto Pinochet in 1998 is being investigated by his colleagues in the Supreme Court on three counts. If found guilty, his career will be over. There is something of a whiff of conspiracy about this sudden fall from grace. The first investigation is into accusations that he dropped tax fraud charges against executives of Banco Santander in return for $302,000-worth of sponsorship by the bank for a series of lectures on human rights he gave at New York University in 2003. This hearing is currently underway. The … [Read more...] about Garzón, the PP, and a Byzantine justice system
The rebirth of corruption
A flick through a Spanish daily newspaper one particular day in early April made for instructive, if depressing, reading. The national news pages were dominated by the latest on a series of corruption scandals, all involving politicians. In Catalonia, the ‘Pretoria’ case saw members of the Socialist Party and the nationalist CiU embroiled in a scam involving construction contracts; in Estepona, Andalusia, the town’s former Popular Party mayor Rosa Díaz faced charges of illegally selling off land; in the Balearic Islands, Jaume Matas, a former Popular Party regional premier and national environment minister, had been told he needed to post €3 million bail in order to avoid being jailed … [Read more...] about The rebirth of corruption