Spain’s government

Another blow

The ruling conservative party is shaken by a damaging corruption scandal

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Readers' comments




Mr Rajoy's reaction to "El País" reporting is telling. He held a virtual press conference, using a plasma screen to avoid sitting in the same room as the journalists and without accepting questions.

I don't know if Mr Rajoy is corrupt or not. But I know for certain that he doesn't have what it takes to run a country. He simply lacks the leadership, the courage, the intelligence and the knowledge required by his post. Much less in the middle of a big economic, social and political crisis.

Toni Luna

I just hope that Europe understands the sense of outrage that we have the Spanish and not judge us by our political class.
Spain a few years ago was a cheerful country, where we were not rich but we lived happy, now live in misery much of the population watching politicians and bankers and the invalidity of justice slowly sink the country, but we can do anything.
That feeling of helplessness, we have sunk into a deep sadness and is slowly killing Spain.

Miguel Silvestre Balado

Spanish Spring?

After the events that we have seen these days in which the alleged corruption of some politicians is again the top story of the news, I wonder what will happen next.

Corruption is the second most important problem for the Spanish people. The first are the 6,000,000 people who want to work and can not find a job.

Returning to the issue of corruption and shamelessness, I must say that if there are more than 300 cases of corruption in the courts, how many are unaccounted for?

Now is one party, later is the other, later the first, and so on that back again.
But yes, the important seems to be what the other is doing.

It seems that political parties are only interested in the loss of votes in the next general election and continue to commit the same mockery of the citizens to which we are accustomed from a long time.

It should be noted that only two parties have governed Spain since the end of the dictatorship and that some of its leaders remain the same.
Is it too long? But, if they left politics, what are goin to do?
Are they useful for anything?

Thanks to their own mistakes citizens see no alternative, it seems that they even do not trust the Prime Minister let alone the leader of the opposition.

All this when the Spain brand and our reputation is low lows, but no matter, if for another three years there is not elections. Why to be worry?

Who cares if "the conservative Bible", The Economist, speaks of "chorizos or swindler or cheat" with the photo of the Spanish Prime Minister?

Who cares if the Financial Times says that the President himself is "a provincial politician unwilling to accept reality and is not adequate to solve a complex and international crisis"?

Do not forget that politicians are employees of the citizens and are due to them.
Politicians were chosen to solve the people's problems and to improve the welfare of citizens and seems that once again everything is backwards.

Anyway, while talking about this nobody remembers the 6,000,000 unemployed they have created and clearly are unable to reduce.
So why would we want politicians? Why are we paying them a salary that clearly do not merit?

Perhaps a fed up people is going to take measures that had not been seen before. Maybe they get out to the streets and say "enough".

Maybe citizens do not want spend their money subsidizing political parties any more.
Maybe citizens may wish that those politicians convicted of corruption have to return all the stolen money before leaving prison.

Perhaps, for no longer citizens want to continue being scammed by their own employees ... and decides to take over ...

F R O Y in reply to Spaniard fbm

Please. The "Amy Martin" scandal is a trifle compared to any of the other scandals you have rightly mentioned, both in terms of embezzled money amount and in the level and number of politicians involved. Also, contrary to the other scandals, where the corrupt leaders only took responsibility and resigned after months of doggedly denying any involvement and party shameless support (if they resigned at all), in the Amy Martin case, the only political official involved (the husband of the false writer) was immediately fulminated by the party leadership. This scandal, though real and serious in its own context, has been cynically used as a diversion by PP politicians and sympathetic talking heads to create a false sense of equivalency in corruption for both parties. I don't say they are not both corrupt, but the magnitude of the Barcenas scandal is far superior to the one you seek to spotlight.


The word "chorizo", when it is a sausage, comes from the latin word "salsicium", but when "chorizo" means thief, it comes from the romani/caló/gypsy "chor", that means to steal (think about the word chornaa in hindi; both languages, hindi and romani, come from sanskrit, where we find "chorayati", with the same meaning, to steal). Best regards from a spaniard interested in etymology.


In Spain, specially in the primitive caves of the PP party, the word "dimitir" (=Resign in English), is thought to be some kind of Russian name, they do not know the meaning and will never make use of it, of course. But it is not the only one, there is an endless list: embarrassment, decency, honour, employment, democracy, folk, investigation, justice, honesty, learning, improvement, public (education, health, administration...), etc.

The situation is UNBEARABLE.

Cendra in reply to complutense

complutense - I don't think many Spanish share your faith in the justice system, usually slated as pretty much wholly politicised, slow, rigid, chronically under-funded and a nest of corporate interests (Garzón episode, to name just one).


Allegations of illegal financing involving political parties are part and parcel of many developed democracies, from Japan ( Japanese are so tired of it that no longer seem to care) to Germany ( Merkel herself rose to the top of her party after a devastating political scandal that involved Helmut Kohl). The other side of the coin, of course is the corruption in the private sector, and here Wall Street and the City are masters of the game ( Lehman, the Libor scandal and so on). The bad news for Spain is that the current scandals are affecting too many political parties and institutions, thus undermining the credibility of the entire political system. The good news is that though slowly and belatedly the judicial system is doing its work. The allegations of illegal funding against the PP are themselves the result of prosecutors doing their job in tracing down the treasurer's funds in Switzerland. Now what it is an absolute necessity is that the magistrates finish their job...Fiat Iustitia.

Guiem in reply to RosarioCla05

@guest-lasjlji = Bozo
I respect the catalan heritage, its beautiful. However, your politicians are not doing better than the rest of spanish politicians. Don't be narrow minded and think that the solution to our crisis is independence. It is time to unite, the concept of race is old.


After twenty years in Spain, I have seen corruption with my own eyes in both the private and public sectors on all levels (indluding with EU funds). It is usually brushed aside with comments such as: "everybody steals" or "that's Spain for you". It is very difficult for employees to report this without fear of losing their job in a country where nepotism is the norm, and anyhow there is less and less faith in the slow judicial authorities (the only person punished so far in the famous Gürtel case that has uncovered much of the corruption currently in the news has been the judge investigating it - Garzón - for his over-zealous illegal phone-tapping of those suspected of massive fraud and influence-peddling). However, the Spanish are accutely aware of what other countries say about them (articles such as this one in The Economist, The New York Times etc. immediately become news here in Spain simply because they are news elsewhere). This is the only reason why the Spanish are suddenly outraged by behaviour which has been blithely accepted for decades - because they are suddenly discovering that most other countries find it morally disgusting as well as economically damaging, especially for the EU citizens who end up footing the bill.

Spaniard fbm

You are always so kind with Spanish Socialists... Haven't you got any correspondat able to read Spanish fluently? Please, subscribe to "Defiende tu derecho" or to "El Confidencial". Ordinary folks in Spain are not specially worried by the Barcenas scandal (that, by the way, was unveiled by the best -in my POV-spanish newspaper, "El Mundo"). No. We are sick. Fed up. Tired. Desperate. Because it is the Barcenas scandal (22 million +, Spanish Conservatives), the ERE scandal (800 million euros, Andalusian Socialists), the ITV scandal (Catalonian Conservative Nationalists), Palma Arena scandal (Balearic Conservatives), the "Campeon" scandal (Spanish Socialists), the Palau scandal (Catalonian nationalists), the Invercaria scandal (Andalusian Socialists), ... The Knoss scandal (Valencia's Conservatives and the Royal Family). There are so many that I have my email collapsed with articles that talk about one or another. There are so many that most of them do not even reach the newspapers. ... But if you want an affair that summarizes the nature of the problem, read about the Amy Martyn scandal (Spanish Socialists). That's a false name used by a socialist, wife of another party member, to fee for news articles. Thousands of euros. And thanks to that, we have found out that she has made movies, played in a rock band, received prices, has been economic adviser of the government, directed an important Spanish institution in Stockholm for a year, has been university teacher.. All that kindly subsidized by the Spanish taxpayer. She has enjoyed life at its best, has flyer higher than most of us will never do, because she was politically connected. AND WITH MY MONEY. That is the mood here, as far as I know. Please, inform about Amy Martyn... My only hope now is a "contract" for the structural funds that devotes a 100% of EU money to transparency and control. Absurd, isn't it? Ifthis do not happen, In the medium term we face an Italian style crisis, with the main parties disintegrating. And we do not know if we might stay and see what happen, or f

Cendra in reply to Pointout

Pointout - valient defence of a party that came to power on an agenda that it must have known was impossible and has systematically failed to comply with, and what's unforgiveable, applying austerity with a very heavy hand instead of seeking understanding and complicity from citizens. Their credit has run out.
But I think your last point is very interesting - who is behind this? While Bárcenas is playing this strange cat and mouse game with justice, his party and public opinion, who is benefitting? El Mundo yesterday issued a call for Aznar to return. The monumental centre-to-extreme-right PP only has one enemy - itself. Which bit of it will win if one part loses out? And what will it mean for Spain?


I also don't understand this defence of Rajoy's so-called integrity. There's absolutely no evidence for integrity and plenty for dishonesty, not least that he lied about every single one of his campaign pledges.

Over a million Spaniards hav signed a petition calling for the removal of the complete corrupt PP government, but by no means would that guarantee a shoo-in for the Socialists, who are distrusted just as much.

There is indeed reason for indignation and beginning from February 16th there will be a series of actions designed to bring about a complete renovation of government. The short-term goal will be to change the existing mortgage laws, declared illegal in the EU Court but still in operation in Spain.

Could this be the end-game for the Spanish state? The mood is certainly similar to Hungary in 1989 - most people just want to get out, but those who can't leave are torn between despair and increasingly bitter anger.

One article seems to suggest the end is imminent...

A.O. Goriainoff

I don't understand what The Economist means by "The prime minister’s denial of self-enrichment deserves credence, as this is the first suggestion that he is anything less than squeaky clean."
Just because Mr. Rajoy was caught with his pants down and now the truth about that corrupt party is coming out does not give him any credence.
When asked during question time at Spain's parliament about the scandal by the Socialist leader, the best he could do was to say that they were not in a position to ask for explanations.
True, the Socialist party in Spain has also had (and has) corruption scandals, but it is amazing that a Prime Minister would try to cover dirt with mud. Saying "and you too", just reinforces the idea that he is as corrupt as everyone else in his party.
The Bárcenas papers point to him as receiving money. Him just saying that that is not true is no proof that he didn't receive money.
Mr. Clinton lied too about Monica Lewinski, and I guess that since it was the first suggestion that he was being unfaithful at the time, then he should have gotten credence too?
Mr. Rajoy is not handling this scandal well at all, and his party only goes from blunder to blunder, while it slowly tears itself apart.
Keep your eyes peeled, Spain's next PM might very well be Mr. Feijoo, and sooner than anyone thinks.

guest-lalnjlo in reply to recaredo

Can you explain the rest of us what was wrong please? Cause I live here and that's exactly how even conservative media describe the situation, even thepoliticians have assumed that they?ve lost their credit and said they want to make a plan to clean their faces, which it's impossible now. In one week more than 1.000.000 pleople signed so the goverment resign so u tell me.


Another famous expression that you will hear a lot in Spain is the expression "es que" (It's just that) and "ay no - pero yo no . . . ( But I didn't do . . . .)

It's another past time of Spaniards - DEFLECT DEFLECT DEFLECT.

Can we try to focus on the issue at hand? We're talking about a serious issue where the TREASURER of the party has hidden more than 23 Million euros (that we know about!) in secret Swiss bank accounts and tried to use a Tax amnesty as a legal loophole to avoid further investigation.

Our Dear President and Minister for Justice have STILL NOT DENOUNCED this crime because regardless of whether the ledgers are true are not, the fact that their TREASURER was able to filter this amount of money Switzerland doesn't reflect very well on the Popular Party.

What I can't understand, is why so many comments are hell bent on saying no es que/It's just that... and deflecting to other crimes that HAVE NOTHING TO DO with Barcenas and Policial Party.

If someone in The Economist deems it worthy to make A SEPARETE post about a journalist who charged 3000 euros per article or about corruption in Japan, I will be the first to denounce that.




. . . .



If things don't change in Spain radically we will have a true revolution here very soon. A lot of people is waiting for that day to come... Politicians don't represent us any more and this system is totally corrupt and ineffective (no justice, no financial equity, no work opportunities, no quality public health service, no education for equality, no nothing...) They are not giving us any way out than violence and the will be the only responsible for that. We will not permit they to hide behind the democracy that they have being corrupting for such a long time when this thing explote.

Hope these people go to hell and leave decent people to take the leadership of this beautiful country.

Thank you

Zuriñe in reply to Glocalize

UPyD is not radical-centrist at all. It's very much on the right of the radical-right. It opposes abortion, supports the public financiation of religious events, and it's proposals are very liberal (in the European sense of the word): stop supporting unions, reduce social security, extend the working years... She has received the support of the CEOE and Díaz Ferrán. She has also received the support of the Falange, those who most miss Franco's fascist dictatorship. Also, in UPyD's first congress, Rosa Díez expelled anyone with differing views of UPyD, showing very little democratic spirit.

I have links for all these, but they're in Spanish.


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