What is wrong with politics in Spain?

[Guanche]

Not sure if this needs a thread of it own but I think it fits in here.

I was talking to Spanish business man the other day. He had just moved into an apartment in La Caleta. He was talking about the local council and he was amazed when I told him that I have spent more time in Council offices and associated Government department while I have been here than I have in my entire life in the UK. In fact I can't even remember going in any council offices in the UK.

He is now retired and in receipt of his government pension. He was lamenting the fact he could no longer work without losing his Government pension. So he was then amazed to hear me say that my mother had four pensions including her OAP and my father had two including his OAP and he still worked part time. That, according to him would not be allowed in Spain. I did add that although my parents were getting so many pensions they paid for them and more importantly for the government they are taxed on them.

[Perikles]

He was lamenting the fact he could no longer work without losing his Government pension.

Arguably, there is nothing wrong with that. With a limited labour market and huge youth unemployment, there is surely the need to give work to the young rather than the retired who don't need it quite as much.

I know somebody who is well off and retired, but gets bored and so spends his time proof-reading books for a publisher. He gets his work because he always undercuts any quote given by others, even if it means very little money for his efforts. Now he is perfectly entitled to do this, but I can't help feeling uncomfortable about his removing work from other people who are most certainly in more need of it.

[Guanche]

Is it the governments problem or the peoples that there seems to be so much bureaucracy in Spain?

Here whats been happining over the past three weeks. The Mother in Law gets a cleaner, paid for by the council, for three hours a week. About three weeks ago she received a letter stating that the present cleaners contract was to change and she will be getting a new cleaner from a certain date.

OK I said no problem. Not the right thing to say! The wife, who does all the running about for the MIL consulted the family, and so it began! I won't go into detail but surfice to say there were many many phone calls and three trips to Santa Cruz going to three diffrent council offices before we got the one phone number she wanted. She rang the number and was told there was no problem the new cleaner would just take over where the old one left off................. Like I said in the first bloody place!!

Now the wife was only following the advice of family members and once she started to make inquiries with the council it snow balled and dragged her deeper into the bureaucracy being sent from pillar to post for no reason whatsoever. No one seemed to be able to say 'Don't worry you don't have to do anything its all sorted'

Are the Spanish just not used to things working?

Hope this makes sense

And just to prove me wrong, guess who didn't turn up today? Of course, the cleaner didn't turn up!!! I dispair

[Myrtle Hogan-Lance]

Pelinor, it was inevitable.  I bet there's a lot of shouting, hand waving and telephoning going on.

[Guanche]

Not today Myrtle to hot, but mañana!

[Janet]

Spain's biggest fraud case?

Forgery, fraud and improper appropriation as part of Operation Oscar, one of many ongoing investigations into the scandal.
The corruption scandal – which involved hundreds of professional training courses – saw Andalucian officials allegedly siphon off upwards of €2 billion worth of EU education funding.

The culprit? Angel Ojeda, Never heard of him? He's the former chief of the Andalucian tax office ...

[Guanche]

And I bet if it wasn't for the fact that it was EU money the crime would have taken decades to come to light if ever! Three things come to mind. Firstly how on earth can the EU give away 2 billion without any checks. Secondly, whilst corruption is still endemic in Spain the corrupt will have to try a bit harder to cover their tracks, as in 1% harder. Because before it seems they didn't have to cover up or try to hide anything!! Thirdly, to end on a slightly up note, at least their being caught. The only thing now is for the courts to hand down sentences that fit the enormity of the crimes and the deceit.

[Perikles]

This is the kind of thing which no doubt is happening all over Spain. I got the link from the recent thread about a satirical blog in Lanzarote fined a fortune for "insulting the honour of a lawyer with an illegal house" ( )

This is about a municipal creche in Playa Blanca (Lanzarote) which must have cost a fortune to build, fully equipped and furnished, finished in 2011.

But not opened, and NOBODY knows why not. Money down the drain. You get the impression that this happens everywhere.

[Myrtle Hogan-Lance]

El País in English:  Minister wants to cut number of public figures with immunity from 17,621 to 22


Later in the article he says

If we add members of law enforcement agencies, that figure rises to 280,159. This situation needs to undergo review.

Amen to that brother.

[Perikles]

El País in English:  Minister wants to cut number of public figures with immunity from 17,621 to 22

Amen to that brother.

There has been considerable reaction to that. On the face of it, it sounds sensible. Others claim that this is just verbal diarrhoea from one arsehole (ignoring the biological ambiguity there) because "aforados" do not actually have any significant level of immunity, so any change would be unnecessary. Yet one more meaningless attempt from the PP to make a show of democracy to conceal the fascist nature of the government. Even in the PP itself some think it's pointless (Dang - I can't find the link).