Last week 51 politicians and businessmen were arrested on charges of corruption in 'Operación Púnica', the biggest anti corruption drive ever in Spain. Many of those arrested are alcaldes (mayors) of towns and cities and are accused of pocketing more than hundreds of millions of euros (about £195.30). Prime Minister Rajoy went on television and said he was sorry for putting people in powerful positions they didn't deserve. Almost all of those arrested are members of his governing party , the Partido Popular. Rajoy himself, is involved in a corruption scandal ( el caso Bárcenas) which is one of many 'casos' (cases) which tend to drag on and on and on.
Possibly in an attempt to bury bad news Operación Púnica kicked off just in time for El Día de los Difuntos/ Muertos (The Day of the Dead) which coincides with Halloween and is very popular throughout Spain. More than 3,000,000 people took to the roads (many of them joining the ranks of the difuntos) as they headed to their home towns to pay their respects to dead relatives ( and have a jolly good few days of eating and drinking). It's another 'puente', when workers and children take a long holiday (Friday until Tuesday), so that they can do justice to the memory their ancestors.
A niche market
Death is very popular here in Spain.La Corrida (bullfighting),and flamenco are all about death and dying and Semana Santa (Holy week) is celebrated by a whole week of processions involving dead or dying statues of El Señor (Jesus) or grieving virgenes (Marys) accompanied by hooded penitentes and people carrying candles, crosses and sticks with brass tops. The Día de la Resurrección (Easter Sunday) generally passes without much fuss. No Easter Eggs.
Viernes Santo (Good Friday) in Álora
Corruption is usually the aftermath of death and also appears to be a national institution in Spain. For many years we thought it only happened in Marbella which used to have a mayor (Jesús Gil y Gil) who was famous for it. He even had his own section in The Rough Guide to Spain. Many of today's politicians attended his 'Colegio de Enchufismo y Prevaricación' in Puerto Banus or read his book 'El Sobre Marrón' ('The Brown Envelope'). He made his money in the construction business and was jailed briefly when one of his buildings collapsed, killing 58 people, but was then released on the orders of his pal Francisco Franco , a dictator.
Jesús Gil y Gil and friends
When he was mayor of Marbella, (he had his own political party, the 'G.I.L' and his own police force/bodyguards), Gil welcomed gangsters form Italy, Britain and Russia and Nazi war criminals on the run. He was very popular and about as corrupt as any one could want to be. Marbella and the Costa Del Sol prospered. Poor people were either beaten up or paid to leave town. When he was banned from public office in 2002 he was followed by another member of the GIL party and graduate of the Colegio de Enchufismo y Prevaricación, Julián Muñoz who set about cleaning up the Marbella town hall. His girlfriend, Isabel Pantoja, was a famous singer with big hits such as 'Que dile dile', 'By Pumpin' Dolls' and 'Me Encanta la Pasta'. When Muñoz was given seven and a half years for money laundering, bribery, curruption and other bad stuff in the 'Caso Malaya' (Malaya Case) last year, Pantoja was arrested too and convicted as a glamorous accomplice and sentenced to 2 years which she has yet to serve and a fine of over 1,000,000€ (about £200.00). She has agreed to pay the fine in 3 monthly instalments and was given until today to give herself up. She will probably be given a suspended sentence and a fortnight's engagement at Coco's Bar in Benalmadena................hot news: she got 2 year's jail and has three days to put in another and final appeal.
Isabel Pantoja, Julián Muñoz and Maite Zaldívar
The jolly lady on the right is Maite Zaldívar who is the ex wife of Muñoz and was also arrested for money laundering in the 'Caso Pantoja'. She got two and a half years and gave herself up last Monday. She has joined her brother, Julián, and her ex husband in the Alhaurin de la Torre Prison, just down the road from here. Conditions there are so good that British prisoners there refuse to be repatriated to the UK. Conjugal visits are the norm so old Muñoz will be spoilt for choice if Isabel gets her ticket.
As she entered the prison Maite said,
'I want to start my prison sentence as soon as possible in view of the anxiety and stress I have been suffering' ..Bless.
And finally........Europe's first Ebola case, Teresa Romero, is due to leave hospital tomorrow with a clean bill of health. Her dog, Excalibur, is still dead and she is very angry about it. 'I don't want interviews. I want my dog back!' she was heard to scream in Spanish. The dog was killed without any tests or proof that it was a possible carrier of Ebola. A dog belonging to an Ebola victim in the USA was spared. Her lawyer is preparing legal action against the hospital authorities for 'omissions and mistakes' which were made.
Here she is with her husband, friends and hospital colleagues who have supported her throughout her struggle with Ébola and accusations that it was all her own fault.
Teresa is in the classy jim- jams
Mrs. Sánchez and I wish her all the best.
November 4th. 2014
Can you buy euros at the exchange rates you quote?
ReplyDeleteDepends on who you are. Who are you? Oh! Alan?
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