Political corruption in Spain has left a hole in the Spanish coffers of more than 7,500 million euros since democracy arrived hand in hand with the Spanish Constitution in 1978. Paradoxically, the figure is similar to what Brussels now demands in cuts. The Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, was very clear on February 4, “whoever governs” must have euros.
Corruption is burned into the Spain brand. Since 1978 the country has suffered 175 cases of political corruption at all levels: city councils, councils, regional and state governments, and of all shapes and colors; in Cola-Cao cans, in envelopes under the mattress and in luxury cars that drive through towns of barely 5,000 inhabitants.
The Corruption Dictionary, from the Nostrum publishing house and written by journalists Eva Díaz (investigative editor for elEconomista), Joaquín Vidal (director of Estrella Digital) and the writer and communication expert Francisco J. Castañón, collects the trail of plots policies that have devastated in less than 40 years a country that has remained half-built.
The rotten apples of the different parties are not so alone and are already legion among the leaders of the public administrations. None of the seventeen Autonomous Communities is spared, although half a dozen of them top the list of corruption in the country, starting with Andalusia.
Andalusia, in the lead
The region currently chaired by Susana Díaz holds the record for political corruption plots, with 38 different cases. This is followed by the Balearic Islands, which climbed the ranks at a dizzying pace during the Government of Jaume Matas. Currently, the Balearic region accumulates 24 corruption operations, ahead of Madrid, which with 22 cases, takes the lead due to the high amount defrauded, especially by parties at the national level from the time of the Government of Felipe González to the current one, stained for the Bárcenas case and the Gürtel plot.
The Catalan community also reaches twenty cases, despite the fact that one of the most relevant, that of Banca Catalana, was dismissed for lack of evidence. The entity, which was chaired between 1974 and 1976 by the former president of the Generalitat, Jordi Pujol, required state intervention in 1984 after a hole of 20,000 million pesetas emerged. At that time, few imagined that the Pujol-Ferrusola family would manage to amass assets of more than 1,000 million euros, spread over more than 20 tax havens.
Now, all the members of the family, both the couple and their seven children, are accused of different corruption crimes. The Valencian Community also stands out in the ranking of political corruption with thirteen cases behind it and currently in full investigation for the alleged illegal financing of the PP.
For some it sounds surprising, but many others have already heard the sound of the river’s water in 1980 with the Naseiro case. At that time, an Eduardo Zaplana, then president of the Alicante PP, told the Valencia councilor, Salvador Palop: “Well, if you don’t become a deputy and I am president for Valencia, I will make you a deputy for Alicante.”
The PP, the most stained
The x-ray of corruption in Spain puts black on white and colors the Popular Party with pure carbon. The formation stars in 68 cases, most of them in small town halls, although it is indicated in the main plots at the national level. The PSOE follows closely behind, with 58 corrupt operations, the bulk of which took place in Andalusia.
Convergence i Unió has been involved in nine cases, the defunct Unión Mallorquina, in seven and IU, in another six. Although we must not forget minority parties, such as the GIL, founded by the former mayor of Marbella, Jesús Gil, who survived five plots, or the Canarian Coalition, which has been dotted with another five.
Justice acts. Of the 175 corruption cases in Spain, 90 of them have already been closed, while the rest are still open in the courts. Pardons call attention. The Government of Felipe González pardoned the former president of Cantabria, Juan Hormaechea, sentenced to six years in prison for embezzlement in 1995, while the Rajoy Executive pardoned Josep María Servitje, former general secretary of the Department of Labor of the Generalitat of Catalonia, in 2012 , who was found responsible for diverting funds to the Gestumer and Socesca companies.
Among the most expensive cases that have gone to the coffers are that of Púnica, which is estimated to have defrauded 250 million euros, the ERE of Andalusia (150 million), Gürtel (120 million) or the Looting case (96 million). .
The Corruption Dictionary compiles, in addition to the plots, where more than 1,900 defendants and 200 convicted appear, 120 terms and expressions related to corruption and Justice and a selection of the most impressive conversations of those involved.
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