As a judge, Fernando Grande-Marlaska is remembered for several milestones. Perhaps the most impressive is that the European Court of Human Rights has convicted Spain up to five times for torture of detainees in cases he led. In keeping with this resume, as a minister, he has also been politically responsible for a bloody incident such as the massacre of migrants at the Melilla fence three years ago in the summer, or for a major scandal such as the spying on politicians using the Pegasus program, which primarily affected other figures involved in the Catalan independence process. Marlaska continued with Defense Minister Margarita Robles and ended with his boss, Spanish President Pedro Sánchez.
These are dark episodes that Marlaska has managed to close (albeit falsely) and emerge politically alive, despite having led the coalition governments of the PSOE with Podemos, and the PSOE with Sumar, through some of the most critical moments of his career. Marlaska has been and remains a prime target for the ultra-nationalist right of the PP and Vox, not only because the Ministry of the Interior is one of those that represent the true power of the state, POWER with a capital P, but because the sum of his characteristics – from his position as a star judge lashing out at the particular abertzale party (he referred to the fact that he is homosexual) – makes him an object of desire for the right and a contradictory and uncomfortable figure for the left. The Minister of the Interior must be someone willing to work with the sewers of the state, but Marlaska's toughness and his agility and mental coldness (he is not a product of the party like Zoido, nor a fanatic like Fernández Díaz, his predecessors in the position) have no ideological considerations or undue scruples.
Now he has once again become the subject of a major controversy due to a large purchase of ammunition (fifteen million rounds) from the Israeli government, destined for the Civil Guard, and made secretly by the Socialist government's governing partners, Sumar, for whom Marlaska has always shown zero respect and attention. The reaction in the media and public opinion has led to this purchase being reversed, and we will see if the political consequences for Marlaska end with the disqualification by Sánchez and the government or if they go further: in any case, between Marlaska's shady maneuver with the bullets and the announcement of a €10 billion investment, the European Commission, NATO, and Trump, Sanchez has spent a week chewing sand, compounded by criticism for his failure to attend the Pope's funeral this Saturday. Incidentally, and as a curious fact: according to the Moncloa website, the Civil Guard now has 81,995 officers, whose use of firearms is strictly regulated and restricted. With ten million rounds of ammunition, that works out to about 182 rounds per officer. Is that a lot or a few?
