Why can't we know what gifts the Spanish president receives?

BarcelonaZapatero's jewelry has been making headlines for days and is part of a new separate piece of the Plus Ultra case at the National Court. But the necklaces and earrings valued at 1.3 million euros that the former Spanish president received and which come from "inheritances and gifts", according to his spokesperson, have once again put a controversial issue at the center of the debate: why can't we know the gifts that Spanish presidents receive while in office? For example, the current head of the executive, Pedro Sánchez, still has not revealed the gifts he has received since his arrival at Moncloa.

the transparency law does not clearly define whether they can keep them or must hand them over to the StateBe that as it may, the Spanish president does not commit any crime by not revealing the gifts he has received, and the transparency law does not clearly define whether he can keep them or must hand them over to the State. Faced with the appeal filed by this lawyer in the National Court following the CTBG's refusal, in a proceeding that is still open, the State Attorney's Office used the same arguments again. It argues that the requested information does not exist at the present time, and that the "simple notes" made upon receiving gifts are merely internal and auxiliary records, not definitive public documents. Similarly, it points out that there is no legal obligation to create an inventory in real-time or to create "ad hoc" documents to respond to transparency requests.

Other state institutions such as the royal household, on the other hand, do publish the list of institutional gifts received annually. King Felipe VI made it a rule to overcome his father's scandals. For the moment, Moncloa has not explained whether it plans to take a similar decision to react to Zapatero's jewelry scandal.

The gifts of other presidents

There is also no easily accessible document or webpage to know what gifts previous presidents received. However, the data can be obtained through transparency requests.

The magazine Tiempo did some in 2016, going on to explain that Felipe González, José María Aznar, and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero received 1,224 items during their time in office. González received 375 gifts in the 14 years of his term that were added to the inventory. In the case of Zapatero's eight years, the gifts amounted to 529 (although it is not clear if jewelry was included), and Aznar received 320. The inventory of gifts and presents received by Mariano Rajoy, on the other hand, was not disclosed because it was not requested (he was still president in 2016).

This opacity from La Moncloa contrasts with the transparency of other institutions, such as the Generalitat. The presidents of the Government do carry out a continuous update of the gifts they receive, and they are published in a searchable transparency registry. In this registry, one can see what item or gift was received, who delivered it, the date, and in some cases, its destination or use.

The Generalitat's code of conduct states that senior officials cannot accept gifts from individuals or entities, except for tokens of courtesy and commemorative, official, or protocolary items received by virtue of their office. In the file of President Salvador Illa, for example, the latest registered gifts appear, such as a commemorative print linked to the tenth anniversary of Netflix Spain.