What is wrong with politics in Spain?

[Perikles]

I've been trying to work out from El País what Blasco had done to get 8 years in prison. Bastard. Here it is in English

[Nova]

Despicable.

[Perikles]

Iñaki on Podemos

[Janet]

Interesting Q&A article HERE ...

[El Profesor]

Interesting Q&A article HERE ...

Fascinating . . . . not least because the interview was done in January, so he had not one inklinng of what was to happen on the 25th of last month. Reading the first half in that context is very interesting.

[Perikles]

I don't believe it. A politician accused of corruption has actually

RESIGNED   

I didn't know they knew how to do that.

REALLY BORING LINK

[Janet]

Spain is a country of gangsters ...

and the Canaries most of all. Plenty of Canarios up in arms over THIS piece, written by a journalist in Almería, which sounds totally, utterly and absolutely spot on, to me! "Southern hospital" anyone?? 

Relevant bits roughly translated:

The tropical climate makes them soft and, let's be frank, lazy. ... And now they're starting an absolute crusade to prevent oil exploration in local waters.

Those who've always enjoyed imported cars at bargain basement prices while we in the mainland had to put up with Seat, Renault, Simca ... and with petrol prices 40% cheaper than we pay. They're very good at complaining about "insularity", call mainlanders "disgusting Godos" ...

In the Canaries it's the "big men" who give the orders. These are the wealthy ones who always take advantage of their position to do well and to avoid any developments that don't benefit them.

Remember 1977 and the Los Rodeos air disaster. Afterwards, it became known that TFS had been finished for years but hadn't been inaugurated thanks to pressure from the big men in the north ... who wanted to avoid tourism being displaced to the south where they had no tourist infrastructure.

In the Canaries not even a leaf moves without the big men blowing. And now, if the politicians are against oil exploration, it will be because the bosses are after some compensation to make them even richer.

Because the islands that produce nothing but bananas at uncompetitive prices and tourism, where everything has to be imported, shouldn't complain about having an oil industry that would employ thousands of canarians and increase port and industrial activity to serve it.

Perhaps it's the same as in Andalucía where the big men and politicians aim to keep the population poor and in servitude, grateful for the crumbs that they're offered while the bosses dine in luxury private restaurants.

[Perikles]

Spot on, methinks 

[Perikles]

Get this: two people have been sentenced to three years in jail because they took part in a picket line. That's all. People without a criminal record, one a medical student. There were 40 people taking part, and these two were the only ones identified.

How disproportionate is that? I could understand it in China, but Europe?

[Guanche]

I said this to the wife only this morning, 'Democracy in Spain only exist in the minds of the public, the reality is Spain hasn't moved on much since Nov 20th 1975'