SPANIARDS AIR VIEWS ON CORRUPTION
The El Mundo daily newspaper has been running a series of surveys of its readers to find out what they think of various aspects of national life at the end of the first 30 years of democracy. Some of the results have been very damning, but it's doubtful that the politicians will take much notice of them. Contrary to popular belief, the Spaniards are not indifferent to corruption in high places and know exactly where to place the blame: Socialist politicians, local builders of all political parties and local councils of all political hues. More than 27% said the current Socialist government was more corrupt than the first one under Felipe Gonzalez (24%). Only 14% said the Partido Popular government headed by José María Aznar was corrupt. More than 62% said the politicians were the most corrupt, followed by the judiciary (14.4%) and the media (9%). As for politicians, the most corrupt were those in local government. On the economic front, nearly 60% thought the construction was the most corrupt, followed by the banks (18%). Nearly 80% want to Constitution changed in order to put limits on the nationalist parties while at a local level, the party that gets the most votes should form the local council, doing away with alliances between minority parties. And two thirds of those question said they did not believe that the whole truth about the 2004 Madrid bombings had been told.
UPROAR OVER BANDERAS HOUSE
The owners of houses in the Los Monteros urbanisation in Marbella have said they will formally accuse the Town Council of peddling political favours if Antonio Banderas' house there is legalised. The film star's beach front house was on the list of those to be demolished for building irregularities but will be regularised under the provisionally approved General Urban Plan (PGOU). Apparently Banderas has agreed to pay an unspecified amount in compensation and to relinquish some thousand square metres of garden. The other residents claim that the star - a known supporter of the Socialist regional and national governments - is being given special treatment because of his political affiliation.
ROCA USED MOTHER FOR TAX REASONS
Juan Antonio Roca, the alleged brain behind the Malaya and Saqueo 1 corruption cases in Marbella, denied in court last week denied that he had used his own companies to divert public money from the Marbella Town Hall between the years 1991 and 1995. He suggested that someone in the Town Hall had taken advantage of his accounts. When asked why his companies and other assets were in his mother's name, the former municipal urban planning adviser Roca said he had always used her name "for tax reasons". Another man charged in the Saqueo case, former legal adviser Jose Luis Sierra, told the court: "Nobody even breathed in Marbella without the express order of Gil", referring to the late Mayor Jesus Gil y Gil. He added: "If anyone did anything without his permission, even if it was the logical thing to do, they would be looking for a job the next day."
MUÑOZ DROPS JUICY TV DEAL
Former Marbella Mayor JuliAn Muñoz, who was recently granted an open prison regime after being found guilty of real estate irregularities, thought he was onto a good thing when he did a deal to sell his story to the Tele5 TV channel for €350,000. Presenter Ana Rosa Quintana even came down from Madrid last week to record the exclusive in Marbella only to have it cancelled at the last minute after the judge hearing the cases against Munoz instructed the prosecutor to look into the matter for tax purposes.
PM SEEKS PERMANENT PLACE FOR SPAIN
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said last Saturday that he would use his hard-won invitation to attend the G-20 summit in Washington on November 20th to ensure that Spain becomes a permanent member of groups like the G-20 and the G-8. French President Nicolas Sarkozy made the PM's attendance possible by giving him one of the two seats he has allocated to him as the current EU President and as president of an EU country. Most political observers in Spain believe outgoing US President Geiorge W Bush had used the G-20 formula, which Spain does not belong to, for the summit to punish Sr Zapatero for having withdrawn Spanish peace-keeping troops from Iraq shortly after he took power in April 2004.
POLITICAL ROUND UP BY MURIEL PILKINGTON – 10th November 2008
A loyal ally
Last week wasn't a bad one for Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. To his great relief, Barak Obama won the US presidential elections thus removing the threat of at least another four years of frosty relations between the two countries. And France's Nicolas Sarkozy has offered one of the two places he commands - as current European president as well as president of a G-7 - at the G-20 summit to be held in Washington on November 15th. Sr Zapatero had not been invited to the summit because Spain does not belong to the G-20 group of countries, which consists of the seven most developed countries (Spain ranks 8th), Russia, the EU as a bloc and the most important emerging economies. Ever since the summit was announced, Sr Zapatero has been lobbying all and sundry to get an invitation, and the Spanish media have attributed his absence to vindictiveness on the part of George W Bush. They claim he has never forgiven Sr Zapatero for withdrawing the Spanish troops from Iraq but it's not quite that simple. Throughout the 2004 general election campaign, Sr Zapatero said he would withdraw the troops by the end of June that year, if the United Nations had not taken over the running of Iraq from the US. The war was not popular and the decision to send peace-keeping troops to Iraq was the biggest mistake former President Jose Maria Aznar ever made during his eight years in government. What Sr Zapatero did the day after he was officially sworn in was to announce the immediate withdrawal of the troops - a slightly different scenario from the one he promised. The Madrid train bombing, which killed 191 people and injured another 1800 or so, by Islamist radicals happened just three days before the election and most Western leaders viewed Spain's withdrawal as a capitulation to the terrorists. Then during a visit to Algeria a few weeks later, he made matters worse by publicly urging all US allies to follow suit - a definite diplomatic no-no. Sr Zapatero's political judgement was further questioned when his government allowed some 850,000 illegal immigrants to become legal in 2005 - thus creating an open door effect the rest of Europe dreaded. In fact, during the year following the legalisation process the influx of illegal immigrants more than quadrupled. Meanwhile, Sr Zapatero had openly backed John Kerry in the US 2004 general election - Bush was re-elected. He publicly rooted for Gerhard Schroeder in the German general election in 2005, which Angela Merkel won - and for Segolene Royal in the 2007 French general election, which Nicolas Sarkozy won. Football fans wanted him banned from attending last year's European Cup between Spain and Germany because of his tendency to back the loser. He also alienated Tony Blair when it was leaked to the press that his closest advisers were given to referring to the UK PM as "that gilipollas (s**thead)". While Bush can be blamed for many things, Zapatero's poor international image is not one of them. Last week, he told a press conference that he would be a friend and loyal ally of Barak Obama, to the amusement of many political observers here. As one said - with friends like him, who needs enemies. Another asked - will he go as far as sending the troops back to Iraq? Probably not, because Obama wants to bring the US troops home within 16 months. Obama has also said he wants to establish good relations with Spain, although Zapatero was not among the world leaders he rang last Thursday. However, the next day Obama broke an eight-year-long silence and called Madrid. The sigh of relief at the PM's official La Moncloa residence in Madrid could be heard all over the country. Hooray, we're back in from the cold.
DEFENCE MINISTER VISITS SOMALIA
Defence Minister Carme Chacon announced on Sunday that Spain will send a frigate and a support ship to Somalia as part of the mission the European Union will launch in January to fight piracy in the Indian Ocean. She made the announcement after landing in Jibuti early Sunday morning on her way to inspect Spain's anti-piracy military presence in Somali waters. Somali is in chaos, countless children are starving and people are killing one another in the streets of Mogadishu, the capital, for a handful of grain. But piracy is thriving. Somali officials told reporters last week that this year, pirate profits are on track to reach a record $50 million, all of it tax free. He said: "These guys are making a killing." More than 75 vessels have been attacked this year, including several Spanish fishing boats, far more than any other year in recent memory. In Somalia, crime is one of the few industries that pays. A former captain in Somalia's long-defunct navy said: "All you need is three guys and a little boat, and the next day you're millionaires." As a result, criminals from all across the country are flocking to pirate dens along the Somali shore. It is not even clear whether Somali authorities want the piracy to stop. One pirate captain said his team usually divided up the loot this way: 20 percent for their bosses, 20 percent for future missions (to cover essentials like guns, fuel and cigarettes), 30 percent for the gunmen on the ship and 30 percent for government officials.
POLITICAL ROUND UP BY MURIEL PILKINGTON – 3rd November 2008
Non-PC Queen
Queen Sofia celebrated her 70th birthday on Sunday, November 2nd, in a swirl of controversy as a result of comments she made in a book published last week - La Reina muy de cerca (The Queen very close up) by Pilar Urbano, the result of some 15 hours of conversation between the two women. What seems to have upset people most were her comments on same-sex marriage. She said she could understand, accept and respect that some people have other sexual tendencies and that they have every right to live together, dress themselves in bridal gowns and get married but she didn't believe such unions should be called marriage. There are other possible names, she said, such as social contract or contract of union, but not marriage. She also confessed she couldn't understand why gay people are always out on the street, proudly parading their gayness. These comments caused such an uproar in politically-correct quarters that the Royal household's spin doctors issued a statement the day after the book appeared, to the effect that Sra Urbano had misquoted the Queen. The PC people continue to ignore the fact that many people oppose gay marriage for religious and other reasons, while others disapprove of homosexuality altogether. And there are probably a lot of people like myself who find those gay parades lacking in taste to say the least. I know that none of my gay friends would be seen dead in them. As for gay marriage, I reluctantly agreed to help two of my closest - gay - friends get married here in Co�n. They had been told in Madrid that it would be quicker to get married outside the capital, where there was a long waiting list. I only agreed because one of the two is American and needed to marry his Italian friend to be able to stay in the country without any hassle. My reluctance was caused by the fact - as I pointed out to them - that I'd spent my life avoiding marriage and felt that helping them tie the knot was a just a little bit hypocritical on my part. In any event, they married in Aranjuez without any help from me. Being a practising Christian, the Queen came out in favour of teaching religion in school, which the current Socialist government is making as difficult as possible, but is against abortion and euthanasia. On having photos of herself and the King burned by young Catalan nationalists, she said it wasn't very nice but "they were only burning bits of paper". However, she said the incidents would be repeated because "once somebody does it, others will follow". And she was right. As for attacks on the monarchy, she said the Royals could only continue "smiling, and carrying on as usual". She said that not being able to reply was frustrating, but the criticisms nearly always came from the same people so she knew what to expect. On domestic violence, she said it had always existed but it was now getting more publicity which, she said, "probably gave ideas to men who were that way inclined". She had several things to say about both foreign and Spanish politicians. She feels Hillary Clinton has been much maligned: "They make out that she's very ambitious but the Hillary I know has great human qualities." She said the King and Bill had taken to each other immediately. She also said she hoped Barak Obama would be the next US President: "He comes across as sincere and intelligent." A bit closer to home, she revealed that relations with former Prime Minister Jos� Mar�a Aznar, alleged to have been strained, were "fluid, he was never unpleasant to us but his being so serious didn't help." As for the country's first Socialist Prime Minister since the Civil War: "Felipe Gonzalez came from a Republican family and was republican himself because of his political persuasion but he was always exquisitely tactful in his relations with us." On the country's first woman Defence Minister, Carme Chacon, the Queen said: "A woman hasn't the physical strength of a man, but you don't command armies with muscle." As for Fidel Castro, apparently the Queen asked him once why he didn't open up Cuban society a little, just a little. Fidel replied: "Noooo, my Queen (mi reina), I can't. If I open up a little they'll immediately want much more." So much fuss and so little to fuss about! Fortunately, there seems to be a growing backlash against political correctness which many people - myself included - feel has gone too far. It's one thing to be sensitive to the feelings of minorities but quite another to allow them (the PC lot) to put our minds in straightjackets. The Inquisition tried, so did Stalin and his ilk, and where are they all now - on the dust heap of history. Happy birthday, Ma'am, and just carry on being as you are.
BRITON DENIES BEING MAYOR
Mark Lewis, the Briton named in media reports as the "accidental mayor" of San Fulgencio on the Costa Blanca, has denied taking up the position. Mr Lewis was said to have taken over the reins in San Fulgencio after the mayor, the deputy and four councillors were arrested over alleged corruption. The 58-year-old was elected to the council last year after campaigning on an anti-corruption ticket, but he was never invited to become mayor. Mr Lewis confirmed that the current mayor, Trinidad Martinez, was among those arrested earlier this week on corruption allegations. However, he said that Sra Martinez had since been released and continued to perform her duties as mayor, while a police investigation was ongoing. The scandal erupted last week when several media outlets broadcast a video of deputy mayor Manuel Barrera Garcia allegedly accepting a €5,000 bribe from property developers. He was allegedly caught on camera saying: "It is better in large denomination bills. They occupy less space." Sr Barrera Garcia was arrested on October 20th and released on bail. He has denied any wrongdoing and said it was a politically motivated set-up. Mr Lewis, who moved to Spain some 25 years ago, was elected to the council last year with the independent AIM party. He was appointed Councillor for Animals - a position in which he was responsible for organising searches for lost pets. Media outlets reported that he had become mayor as a temporary measure while the corruption inquiry ran its course. San Fulgencio is 25 miles from Alicante in the south-east of the country, and has a population of 11,000, the vast majority of whom are British.
WOMAN PLEADS DEMOLISH MY HOUSE
Mijas resident Isabel called on the Town Hall last Thursday to knock down her house and stop fining her. Sra Mart�n, 56, and her husband began building their house four years ago in the La Rosa urbanisation in La Cala but the Town Hall paralysed the work because of town planning irregularities. Accompanied by Antonio Blanco, president of the Association for the Regularisation of Housing in Mijas, Sra Martin told a press conference that her husband had then gone into a deep depression and died a few months ago. She said: "My husband lost the will to live, his dream had died." Her lawyer had written to the Town Hall on July 11th asking them to demolish the house but had not received a reply. Sra Martin said she had received three fines - the last one on October 3rd - of €2,356 for a house measuring 288 m2 when in fact the building only measured 100 m2. She said it was "not even a house, just a structure". She added: "If they are going to demolish it, then they should do it now and stop fining me because my health is not good and I'm going down the same road as my husband." Antonio Blanco compared the situation to Marbella where the mayor has announced that she will fight to ensure that not a single illegally-built property is knocked down.