The Spanish president's hidden gifts
The opacity of Moncloa contrasts with the transparency of the Generalitat
BarcelonaZapatero's jewels have been making headlines for days and are part of a new separate case within 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. Regarding the appeal filed by this lawyer in the National Court after the CTBG's refusal, in a procedure that is still open, the State Attorney's Office used the same arguments again. It argues that the requested information does not currently exist, and that the "simple annotations" made upon receiving gifts are merely internal and auxiliary notes, not definitive public documents. Similarly, it points out that there is no legal obligation to create a real-time inventory or to create ad hoc documents in response to transparency requests. ad hoc documents to respond to transparency requests.
Other institutions of the State, such as the Royal Household, on the other hand, do publish annually the list of institutional gifts received. King Felipe VI made it a rule to overcome his father's scandals. For the moment, Moncloa has not explained if it plans to take a similar decision to react to Zapatero's jewel scandal.
The gifts of other presidents
There is also no easily accessible document or webpage to know what gifts previous presidents received. The data, however, can be obtained through transparency requests.
The magazine Tiempo did some of these in 2016, going on to explain that Felipe González, José María Aznar, and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero received 1,224 objects during their time in office. González received 375 gifts in the 14 years of his mandate that went into 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, did not become known, as it was not requested (he was still president in 2016).
This opacity from Moncloa contrasts with the transparency of other institutions, such as the Generalitat. The presidents of the Government do provide a continuous update of the gifts they receive, and they are published in a searchable transparency register. In this register, one can see what object or gift has been 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 protocol objects received by virtue of their office. On the record of President Salvador Illa, for example, the latest registered gifts appear, such as a commemorative print linked to the tenth anniversary of Netflix Spain.
