Montoro, the minister of cuts who was a counselor of the Generalitat

MadridThree months ago, with the secret investigation against him already in its final stretch, but without the case of alleged trafficking in laws in the Ministry of Finance having put him on the ropes yet, Cristóbal Montoro (Jaén, 1950) appeared in Congress to give explanations about the Catalunya operation, where he still denied all accusationsThe PP's use of the Interior Ministry during Mariano Rajoy's term for its particular dirty war against political adversaries, such as the independence movement, is under full parliamentary and judicial scrutiny. Next year, the National Court will try Jorge Fernández Díaz for the Kitchenen case, a PP member. However, until now, Montoro, despite the suspicions against him and the indictment by an Andorran court for alleged pressure on Banca Privada de Andorra (BPA), had managed to escape scrutiny for the irregular practices of that period. The situation has changed this week with The indictment of the former Minister of Finance and members of his team by a Tarragona courtA judicial move that has opened a can of worms regarding Montoro. How did he get to this point?

Montoro served as Rajoy's finance minister from 2011 to 2018. During that time, he was one of the Spanish prime minister's inner circle. An economist by training—he holds a doctorate in economics from the Autonomous University of Madrid and has served as a professor of applied economics at the University of Cantabria—he rose to the political forefront under José María Aznar, from whom he distanced himself to the point of openly confronting her once his French successor had taken over the reins of the party. Now, despite being a Rajoy supporter, it was Aznar who first placed Montoro in a cabinet, also holding the Treasury portfolio between 2000 and 2004. During that initial period, he already surrounded himself with part of the team that has ended up being indicted in the Tarragona court case accusing him of seven crimes, including business corruption.

One of these suspects with ties to Aznar's administration is Ricardo Martínez Rico, who was appointed Secretary of State for Budget and Expenditure in early 2003. After they were out of the Spanish government, in 2006, Martínez Rico and Montoro founded a law firm, first called Montoro y Asociados, and later renamed Equipo Económico. The judge suspects that this consulting firm has for years been a vehicle for collecting commissions from companies in exchange for achieving legislative changes from the Ministry of Finance once Montoro returned to lead it with Rajoy. "I haven't had an office since 2008," the former minister emphasized in his appearance regarding the Catalunya operation. Despite this not being the reason he had been summoned, Podemos questioned him about the business dealings of Equipo Económico, which had already generated suspicion both in the courts—although they have so far been shelved—and in the media. "Let them investigate me, they won't find anything on me," the former minister exclaimed with a cocky attitude.

While it is true that Montoro formally distanced himself from the office, the ties between Equipo Económico and the Treasury were evident. Felipe Martínez Rico, Ricardo's brother, who became the firm's executive president in 2008, served as Montoro's chief of staff during the investigation period—he is also charged—and the former minister's brother, Ricardo Montoro, was also a member of the office.

Ariet against independence and symbol of austerity

Montoro has been one of Rajoy's government's battering rams against the independence movement and was quick to go on the offensive. He was responsible for applying Article 155 to the Generalitat at the end of 2017, as Minister of Finance, taking over. de facto the reins of the Ministry of Economy in Catalonia, with total intervention of the Catalan accounts

In fact, even before the height of the Process, he deployed a centralist policy that turned him into a "despotic" Minister of Finance and that concentrated "a lot of power", sources also point out. as the architect of the austerity policies, he was the one who launched the mechanism of the autonomous liquidity fund (FLA), through which he controlled the expenses incurred by the Generalitat and went even further with total control of payments to the Government's suppliers.

Also bearing his mark are the policies of cuts and privatization, as well as the 2012 tax amnesty for tax evaders that benefited large fortunes and was ultimately overturned by the Constitutional Court five years later. Under this measure, nearly 31,500 taxpayers declared some €40 billion in hidden foreign funds. However, the benefit to the state coffers from this controversial measure was less than Montoro had predicted, and only €1.2 billion in taxes were collected, 3% of the total. Among those who benefited are members of the PP's Gürtel and Púnica networks, as well as some of Jordi Pujol's children. The Constitutional Court's decision did not reverse the effects of the measure. The confrontation in the cultural world over the VAT increase in the sector was also highly publicized.

The tip of the iceberg

The Tarragona court's investigation, which points to the collection of commissions from gas companies, is just the tip of the iceberg. The Mossos d'Esquadra investigation also targets electricity and renewable energy companies. The minister of the same rank (Industry, Energy, and Tourism) at the time, José Manuel Soria, ended up clashing with Montoro. Another accusation targeting the former Finance Minister is the use of the Tax Agency to obtain "classified information" on political adversaries in order to get rid of them. Soria pointed out that Montoro forced his resignation in 2016 by revealing a Swiss bank account belonging to his mother. Esperanza Aguirre, former president of the Community of Madrid, and Rodrigo Rato, former vice president of the government under Aznar, are also openly accused of using his influence against them. Also accused is the former founder of Podemos, Juan Carlos Monedero.

In Aguirre's case, he links it to an internal battle within the party. The former Madrid prime minister, a hardliner from the liberal wing and critical of the tax increases promoted by Montoro during the crisis, maintains that he orchestrated an attempt to oust her from the political frontline. The former finance minister was in the wing of Rajoy and his vice president, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, whom he supported—leading his economic team—in the 2018 party primaries, ultimately won by Pablo Casado, a close associate of Aznar, whom the Tax Agency also fined during the election, reproaching him for giving "lessons from outside" to the Rajoy government.