In your circle, there are honest architects who forgo speculative projects that would have provided them with generous incomes; doctors who wouldn't change the Raval Primary School for a less intense one; cooks who feed us honestly and waiters who know the names and quirks of all of us; honest public administrators who transform the city's common spaces; editors who seek out books like treasures; journalists capable of paying homage at the moment of death to the pianists who gave us life; children who help out in their parents' fruit shop and learn the ropes; people who raise the blinds very early and others who run to catch the last metro. There are also classes of young people who graduate with a brand-new future and applaud as if the room were collapsing when their brother picks up a severely disabled graduate in his arms and sits him in his wheelchair, about to collect his diploma. There are families who fight for it and teachers who make it possible. There are also conscious business people and scientists who do research, women who clean and take care of our grandparents as if they were their own, and they are all calculating how much they should pay to the Treasury.
Obviously, there are also people who live in a storage room, drug dealers, and a political noise that threatens to suffocate us with plots by corrupt politicians and builders, johns and thousands of hours of recording. The political quagmire is such that it threatens our mood and many citizens are tempted to flee from politics or to limit their information to the details of the depth and stench of the matter.
Political corruption is always a threat. In fact, a brief review allows us to compile a shocking list. The Gürtel case, a scheme of commissions and bribes linked to the PP that implicated its leadership and through which some120 million euros; the case of the ERE of Andalusia, in which the PSOE allowed the diversion of 680 million euros in fraudulent public aid; the Palau case, in which Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya collected illegal commissions through the Palau de la Música, with an estimated fraud of 6.6 million euros; the Púnica case, a corruption network associated with the PP that moved some 250 million euros in fraudulent contracts; the Nóos case, which affected the royal house and the Balearic PP, with the diversion of some 6 million euros by Iñaki Urdangarin, and the Kitchen case, an illegal operation from the Ministry of the Interior to spy on the former treasurer of the People's Party (PP) and obstruct justice with embezzled public funds.
Corruption in Spain has historically begun within the Crown. Let's not forget King Emeritus Juan Carlos I. In the economic sphere, his name was linked to the collection of illegal commissions for the awarding of the high-speed train to Mecca, with a deposit of €65 million in an opaque account in Switzerland through the Lucum Foundation. Several accounts and structures in tax havens were also discovered, such as the Zagatka Foundation, which financed lavish expenses such as private flights. To avoid legal problems, Juan Carlos made two tax adjustments worth more than €5 million, admitting that he had hidden income and obstructing the course of justice. The investigations opened in both Spain and Switzerland were closed, and he went into exile in the United Arab Emirates in 2020.
Corrupt Spain not only means huge economic losses, but also profoundly erodes citizen trust in democratic institutions, and that has consequences. It also affects trust in the future. This is the great crime: distancing citizens from interest and trust in the honest management of public affairs, from interest in information and the demand for honest accountability. The atmosphere of corruption and the "everyone is equal" attitude fuels cynicism and corruption at any scale. The loss of trust in today's managers fuels the far right tomorrow, and we already learned that "life was serious" from reading Gil de Biedma. The crisis of the PSOE has Spanish politics hanging by a thread, waiting for audio recordings and the statements of three minor figures that will allow them to determine the limit of the damage. Today, no one is taking anyone for granted, and the far right is rubbing its hands together. The right will eventually come to power, accompanied by the far right, and we have examples of their policies in the Balearic Islands and Valencia. Fortunately, there will still be people trying to do things right and respecting democracy by trusting it. Journalists included. Have a good party.
