Feijóo's Galician Government hired Montoro's office

MadridThe client portfolio of the law firm founded by former Finance Minister Cristóbal Montoro in 2006 extends beyond private sector companies. Equipo Económico also invoiced revenue from public administrations. One of these, according to the summary of the investigation by Tarragona's investigating court number two, is the Regional Government of Galicia. An extensive report from the Tax Agency incorporated into the case in 2020 reveals a payment of €172,838 made by the regional government to Equipo Económico. The specific services and year for which payment are not specified, but it is clear that it was made between 2008 and 2019.

The majority of this segment corresponds to the terms of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the Popular Party's (PPP) party, who came to power in 2009, taking over from the Socialist Party. Sources from the Galician Regional Government consulted by ARA confirm that it was during Feijóo's tenure as head of the Galician government, but argue that the payment was made "with the PSOE in government and Montoro in opposition." That is, when José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was still in power. According to the same sources, "these are various contracts signed between 2009 and 2011, corresponding to the provision of services for the preparation of financial and fiscal reports related to regional finances."

For its part, the PSOE has reacted quickly to the information, demanding an "immediate explanation" from the PP leader, who has so far distanced himself from the Montoro case, arguing that it is a matter of the past and does not affect the current leadership of the party. "Feijóo must urgently detail the services contracted by the Economic Team for the Galician Regional Government, which he presided over," demand Socialist sources. However, sources from the Popular Party leader's team refer to the assessment of the current Galician government. "It is necessary to know the invoices, the concepts, and whether these were transactions that also indicated the change in legislation and, if so, who it favored," they add to the PSOE.

Ferraz has found in the link between the Xunta and Montoro a goldmine to redouble the pressure on the leader of the Popular Party, and the same sources already predict that we could be facing the "worst case of corruption in democracy." The line taken from Génova, however, is to insist that Feijóo has no connection with the irregularities, that his time in Galicia is clean, and that he has no reason to give explanations about a period prior to his arrival as president of the PP.

Other PP (and PSOE and CC) administrations

The Galician regional government is not the only government agency on the list of payers. Among the clients who made payments of more than €60,000 between 2008 and 2019, according to the same Tax Agency report, is the Community of Madrid, with an even higher figure of €314,360. The Canary Islands government is another client on this list, with payments amounting to €97,500. Also appearing among the Equipo Económico payers are the regional governments of La Rioja (€39,544.4), Castilla y León (€21,240), and Murcia (€21,181). All of these autonomous communities were governed by the People's Party (PP) during the period analyzed, with the exception of the Canary Islands, which was governed by the Canary Islands Coalition.

"In exchange for what? These payments to whom they were owed? [The PP] can't be permanently hiding," insisted the Socialist First Vice President and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, this Thursday on TVE. Not only regional governments appear, but also some municipal ones, such as the Tres Cantos City Council, a Madrid municipality also governed by the PP, which paid 84,544 euros to the Economic Team. The city councils of Madrid (governed by the PP until 2015 and then by the left-wing coalition led by Manuela Carmena) and Alcobendas (of the PP), also in Madrid, paid 41,760 and 12,000 euros, respectively, to the office.

There is also an administration that was in the hands of the PSOE when it turned to the Economic Team. This is the Lugo Provincial Council, which made a payment of 34,220 euros in 2011. According to sources within the agency cited by Europa Press, the firm was hired to prepare a study of the factors promoting entrepreneurship in the Galician province. Three companies entered the competition, which was won by the Economic Team "for being the lowest bid," they explain.