Jewels on the Falcon: the presidents' customs in Torrejón de Ardoz
The transparency law is ambiguous when defining which gifts high-ranking officials must renounce
Barcelona"Anything to declare?" Most people have heard this phrase when their plane had just landed. But customs control is more flexible when it affects authorities. Miguel Sebastián, former Minister of Industry (2008-2011), recently recounted how gifts on official trips were managed – at least in his time. In 2008, already on board the Falcon during the return flight from the city of Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), a royal emissary handed him a leather wallet that hid luxury jewelry inside. He decided not to take the gift home and it is currently in a display case at the ministry, but he recalls that the officials told him: "The most common thing was for us ministers to keep the gifts."Sebastián intended to defend the former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for the jewelry case that he will have to justify before the judge – which come from "inheritances and gifts", according to his spokesperson. But the former minister ended up opening up the can of worms about whether there are many gifts of this kind on official trips that end up at the homes of monarchs, presidents, and ministers, which often land at Torrejón de Ardoz air base (Madrid), the military facilities where official Falcon-type planes are housed.
In 2005, the socialist government approved the Code of Good Governance under the leadership of the Council of Ministers, a regulation that for the first time regulated behavior regarding gifts received by politicians. The regulation, however, pointed Sebastián out in an interview on Antena 3, "was intended for Spanish companies or foreign companies with interests in Spain" and not for gifts from foreign monarchies. In fact, the code "excluded gifts of courtesy", as in the case of Sebastián's jewelry, "gifts that cannot be refused", stated the former minister. However, "in the case of gifts of greater institutional significance, they will be incorporated into the State's assets".
Wasted paper
That first code of conduct was consolidated through different subsequent laws of higher rank. Zapatero's text, for example, served as inspiration for the 2014 transparency law, promoted and approved under the government of Mariano Rajoy and in force today. The general rule establishes that no gift can be accepted and, in fact, accepting them (or requesting them) in exchange for performing, delaying, or omitting an act inherent to public service constitutes a crime of bribery. But there are exceptions. The big loophole lies in ambiguity: none of the legal texts set a maximum economic amount or a cap to limit the acceptance of objects. Instead, the legislation relies absolutely everything on the interpretation and personal judgment of the politicians themselves, which allows retaining those gifts that do not go "beyond usual, social, and courtesy practices".
And precisely here lies the problem: what exactly are "usual, social, and courtesy practices"? María José Rodríguez Puerta, a professor of criminal law at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), warns that the lack of specificity makes the regulation function as a mere "guideline" or a voluntary document that depends solely on the politician's "good will". "Courtesy gifts should be deposited with the administration because they were received due to the position they held," remarks the expert, who warns that this legal ambiguity represents an evident "entry point for influences".
The consequences of this opacity are completely palpable today. Rodríguez Puerta recalls the Qatargate scandal in the European Parliament, where the state of Qatar tried to "clean up its image" through gifts and free trips for European representatives. This bribery network highlighted the extreme vulnerability of international institutions to unchecked gifts.
Faced with this general laxity, there are bodies that have tried to put a stop to it by establishing specific limits. Thus, the Cortes Generales have a fixed limit of 150 euros in their code of conduct. If an institutional gift or one received on an official trip exceeds this figure, it must be handed over to the general secretariat to be duly inventoried and published on its website. On the other hand, the Royal Household, dragging the shadow of the emeritus king, approved a rule in 2015 that prevents its members from accepting cash or goods that compromise the dignity of the institution. Even so, despite publishing an annual register listing the presents – such as the 358 received in 2024 –, Zarzuela continues to omit their economic value.
In Catalonia, the transparency law and the different codes of conduct oblige senior officials of the Generalitat and administrations to openly publish a register detailing all courtesy and institutional gifts they accept by reason of their office.
As Rodríguez Puerta concludes, until "binding obligations and sanctions" are approved at all levels, the current system will continue to be "a self-service".
