Business over Tapas Nº 587

A digest of this week's Spanish financial, political and social news aimed primarily at Foreign Property Owners:

Prepared by Lenox Napier.  Consultant: José Antonio Sierra

For subscriptions and other information about this site, go to businessovertapas.com

email:  [email protected]

***Now with Facebook Page (Like!)***

Note: Underlined words or phrases are links to the Internet. Right click and press 'Control' on your keyboard to access.

Business over Tapas and its writers are not responsible for unauthorised copying or other improper use of this material.

Subscription and e-mail information in our archives is never released to third parties.

Editorial:

Last week, the Government took an enormous hit after a senior party deputy was found to be partnered in with Jose Luis Ábalos and the fixer Koldo García in a corruption deal that swapped construction-contracts (mainly from the multinational Acciona) for cash.

The deputy in question was the right-hand of Pedro Sánchez, whose post was ‘Secretary of Organization of the PSOE’, a job he took over from his sacked predecessor, the above-mentioned José Luis Ábalos, back in 2021.

The moment the story broke, Pedro Sánchez did what he had to do by demanding the immediate resignation of Santos Cerdán from his post and from the PSOE. Sánchez himself emphasized this in his press conference by stating that, sad to say, there is no such thing as "zero corruption", in this world but at least in the PSOE there is "zero tolerance" for any serious evidence of corruption.

"…It causes me enormous indignation and profound sadness to see that an entire project that millions of people trust and depend on can be affected by the conduct of a few," he lamented. "The response to this kind of behaviour will always be forceful, regardless of the enormous disappointment I have experienced today".

Mind you, Rajoy was saying something similar when the corruption in his Partido Popular government first rose to the surface in 2014.

“There will be no elections before 2027” said Sánchez, whether as a promise or a prayer, as that confidence may be too hard to swallow. Will Koldo García – whose secret recordings, now in the hands of the UCO fraud police, where past deals and conversations are now being leaked to the media – produce any more bombshells?

The turnaround consisted of demanding Cerdán's resignation as secretary of the PSOE organization and his resignation as a member of Congress; announcing a restructuring of the Ferraz executive committee at the federal committee meeting to be held on July 5 in Seville; and commissioning an external audit to rule out any suspicion of irregular financing within the party. Whether that will be enough… and whether the secret recordings in the hands of the UCO will produce any further revelations.

A point worth making is that we all know that corruption – easy money – can and does appear in both socialist and conservative parties; but to my mind, a corrupt socialist is worse – he is stealing from the people, whereas corruption in conservative circles is somehow less of a surprise and almost part of the game and something to be expected.

The worry is that Spain could fall, via an autumn election, into the hands of a PP/Vox combination. If the Partido Popular could go it alone, then maybe Spain could continue to move forward, but with a far-right anti-EU party wagging the dog, such a prospect would be a disaster. Indeed, a snap poll carried out over the weekend unsurprisingly gives both the PP and Vox a push at the expense of the PSOE. Highly aware of this threat, the junior parties within the Government are wriggling on the hook. Not happy, but they know that they will have to keep in line.

The difference between the two main parties is in evidence. A socialist gets caught, he gets fired. Whereas on the other side… Ayuso in Madrid up to her neck in shady deals (the last PP leader, Pablo Casado, was thrown under the bus when he accused her of corruption). Valencia’s Carlos Mazón remaining as a willing millstone around Feijóo’s neck. Indeed Feijóo was in Valencia last week to congratulate Mazón over his administration of the DANA and to bless the budget agreement arranged together with Vox in their regional government. A slew of major corruption cases with the PP are tabled for next year. Feijóo would certainly like an election before the thirty or so cases are brought to trial.

The Government is now living day to day in a state of entrenchment in the face of the more than evident judicial and media campaign being carried against it.

Pedro Sánchez now says he will submit to questions in Congress on July 9th. But can he and his project last that long?

If things go wrong (perhaps following further unwelcome revelations from the police), like the Portuguese prime minister before him (later exonerated of any corruption), Sánchez will no doubt end up sooner or later with a senior role in Europe.

…...

Housing:

From Deutsche Welle here: ‘Spain housing crisis: Locals blame tourists and speculators. Short-term rentals are worsening Spain's housing crisis, while investor demand continues to drive up prices. For many locals, the situation is devastating’.

…...

Tourism:

From elDiario.es here: ‘Thousands of people protest in fifteen European cities to demand fewer tourists: "the cruise ships are garbage dumps". Barcelona, ​​Ibiza, Granada, and San Sebastián are some of the Spanish municipalities that have responded to this global call to protest against the economic model that "prioritizes tourists over the well-being of the population"’.

No doubt making a fair point here, that... ‘From Marco d'Eramo, sociologist: "Cities like Barcelona are not against tourists, but rather against poor tourists"’.

…...

Finance:

‘Acciona fires its Construction Director linked to the Cerdán and Koldo scandal. The company terminates its employment with Justo Vicente Pelegrini due to alleged irregularities in public bidding processes’. El Confidencial reporting here. The Entrecanales family-owned company allegedly paid Ábalos and Koldo García €620,000 in bribes in exchange for public tenders says elDiario.es here. Diario Red takes it a step further: ‘The Construction Cartel, the corrupting companies in Spain: from Entrecanales' Acciona to Florentino Pérez's ACS’. (other companies mentioned – historically – are Ferrovial, Sacyr, FCC and OHL) ‘They met weekly and exchanged insider information about their strategy to divide hundreds of millions from rigged public tenders’.

The 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, organised by the United Nations, will be held from 30 June - 3 July 2025 in Seville. The story (in English) is here.

El Correo de Andalucía says to expect: ‘More than 10,000 attendees, delegates from 150 countries, press from around the world, and the largest gathering of heads of state and government seen in Seville since the Expo '92’.

…...

Politics:

But what says La Iglesia? From La Cope (the national radio owned by the Spanish Church): ‘Luis Argüello, the archbishop of Valladolid y president of the Conferencia Episcopal Española, calls for elections as a way out of the political deadlock: "We must give citizens a voice". In an interview with ABC, the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference emphasized respect for the rule of law, judicial independence, and the separation of powers as unshakeable pillars of democracy’. The Catholic El Debate newspaper meanwhile is calling for the army and the King to rise as one and effect a coup d’état.

‘The Ayuso government subsidizes the Legionaries of Christ Foundation with 3.3 million euros after sanctioning it. The Madrid government has awarded thirteen separate grants in six months to the Altius España Foundation—established by the Legionaries—which had earlier breached a contract financed with EU funds’. elDiario.es has the story.

News found at RTVE here: The leader of the Partido Popular, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has managed to secure 99.72% of the votes in favour of being re-elected president of the Popular Party, a fraction more than in 2022.

Members and leaders of the party voted on Monday at the approximately 1,000 polling stations across Spain where ballot boxes were placed.

Next Tuesday, at an event in Seville, the political report will be presented. This document outlines the party's ideological vision, principles, and programmatic proposals on key political, economic, and social issues.

Finally, the party’s XXI Congress will be held between July 4 and 6 in Madrid.

Sánchez has it bad. The latest poll from El Periódico gives the PP (and the Vox) plenty of oxygen.

…...

Andalucía:

Partido Popular woes in Andalucía as the PSOE-A gains ground. From El Plural here: ‘…Moreno Bonilla has rejected €112 million in European funds for 12,000 daycare places. He has also rejected the cancellation of €18,791 million in regional debt. And he has opposed, only last week, €500 million for public housing. The reason? To appease Feijóo by maintaining the confrontation with the national government. Pedro Sánchez proposes tens of millions of euros for Andalucía, which Moreno Bonilla opposes, ultimately harming the citizens.

The Andalusian public healthcare, which is Moreno Bonilla's sole responsibility, is in critical condition. More than two million people are on waiting lists. In the summer, when the population soars, the PP cuts staff: there is a shortage of 18,000 professionals, including paediatricians, midwives, physiotherapists, and psychologists. The delays are outrageous: eight months for a neurologist, five for an orthopaedic surgeon, and weeks for a simple blood test. Meanwhile, investment in private healthcare is increasing. Moreno Bonilla's model is clear: one healthcare system for the rich who pay, and another for those who must wait…’

…...

Gibraltar:

From The Corner here: ‘After three and a half years of negotiations, Spain and the United Kingdom, Brussels, and Gibraltar have reached a “definitive political agreement” on the Rock of Gibraltar. This agreement, which still needs to be ratified, will eliminate goods controls between Gibraltar and the EU via Spain.

“The Border (known locally as La Verja), the last wall in continental Europe, will disappear,” celebrated Albares, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs. In order to “guarantee the future prosperity of the entire region,” the agreement aims to eliminate “all physical barriers, checks, and controls on people and goods circulating between Spain and Gibraltar, while preserving the Schengen area, the EU Single Market, and the Customs Union”. The Guardian also covers the story with: ‘Gibraltar agrees 15% sales tax on goods in post-Brexit settlement with Spain. This transaction tax is ‘acceptable’ to the EU and forms part of a deal to allow greater freedom of movement and link with customs union’.

El Mundo contrasts the lives of two women – one living in Gibraltar and the other in the next-door Spanish town of La Línea. There are some doubts…

…...

Health:

‘Madrid acknowledges having paid more than €5,000 million to Quirón hospitals in the six years of Ayuso's administration. El País has access to a breakdown of payments between 2019 and 2024, which the opposition considers opaque, as the government's data contradicts each other’. The story here.

‘The Head of the Junta de Andalucía admits 'Málaga is the province with the fewest beds and healthcare professionals per inhabitant in Andalucía'. Juanma Moreno has acknowledged that this "enormous" deficit is one reason for tendering the construction of a 670-million-euro new hospital project in the city’. Item from Sur in English here.

The paper also runs ‘Nurses denounce seasonal closure of 244 beds in major Málaga city hospital (Hospital Regional Universitario) over the busy summer holiday period’.

Los Ecologistas en Acción Black-flag beaches are now posted for 2025 here.

…...

Corruption:

From The Majorca Daily Bulletin here (Saturday): ‘Mallorca at the centre of the corruption scandal rocking the Spanish Government. The Guardia Civil are finalising details of investigations carried out in Mallorca over recent months’.

‘Journalist Pilar Gómez (wiki) acknowledges that the UCO (Guardia Civil fraud squad) leaked information from the report against Cerdán to journalists before taking it to the Supreme Court. Before it came to light on Thursday morning, the alleged existence of the UCO report had been on the lips of many people for weeks’. The story is at El Plural here.

Koldo, the gofer in the current scandal, apparently has more history than we thought. An oddity from Twitter here: ‘A Royal Decree from the Aznar government in 1996 to pardon Don Koldo García Izaguirre, the same Koldo from the audio recordings. Come on, pardons have a tradition in Spain...’ Maldita says that the story is true and concerns a punch-up involving Koldo García in 1991 earning him 28 months prison-time. 

Another piece in the ‘Ayuso’s boyfriend case’ here: ‘The judge investigating both parts of the case involving the boyfriend of the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has charged the wife of Fernando Camino, president of Quirón Prevención (Wiki), with alleged bribery. Gloria Carrasco sold a beauty company, Círculo de Belleza SL, to González Amador, which had no activity or assets according to the Tax Agency reports, for 500,000 euros…’ Ms Carrasco had apparently bought the company just three months before for 16,000€. González Amador then used the office, renamed, for his own purposes… The details are at Diario16Plus here.

The Local looks at ‘how the Spanish wine counterfeiting industry is far bigger than one may have expected’. We read: ‘"Criminal networks use particularly "sophisticated methods" when it comes to circumventing alcohol quality controls, which include reusing original bottles and printing fake labels. Turkey and China stand out as the two main countries of origin of forged food and drink seized by EU authorities. During the latest annual joint operation carried out by Europol and Interpol against this type of crime, counterfeit food products worth €91 million were seized...’

…...

Courts:

From Público here: ‘The Supreme Court has offered Santos Cerdán a hearing on June 25 after finding "consistent evidence" against him. The PSOE's number three denies the UCO's accusations. Judge Leopoldo López also summons José Luis Ábalos and his former advisor Koldo García, revealing in his report "new, potentially criminal, facts"’.

The conservative-leaning judges (that’s to say, most of them) will go on strike against the government says El Plural here. They are against a government plan to introduce judicial reforms. First, they will hold a rally in front of the Supreme Court on the 28th and then strike in early July.

Let us return to the innocent days of Lawfare. From elDiario.es here: ‘The Attorney General accuses Judge Hurtado of prosecuting him without evidence and points to the "falsehoods" of Ayuso's partner. The State Attorney's Office appeals the decision to leave him on the brink of trial and asserts that Alberto González Amador's confession was circulating hours before he learned of it, accusing the judge of failing to "concretize" the accusation against Álvaro García Ortiz’.

…...

Media:

Opinion from El Plural here: ‘It's not just an attack on the PSOE, it's an attack on your rights and on the social progress of Spain. I haven't heard anyone from the PP apologize for a corruption case and I've never seen them look ashamed’. We read: ‘...The right's savage attacks, both the most recent and those they have been carrying out for years, are not only against Pedro Sánchez, but also against his policies of social progress and improving the rights of Spaniards. The PP and media attacks are not only aimed against the PSOE party, but also against its policies of improving and strengthening the welfare state for the working middle class...’

Here’s The Corner with a photoshopped picture of Pedro Sánchez with his three closest friends: ‘Police uncover “criminal organization” in PSOE… Sánchez apologizes but says he’s staying: “This isn’t about me”.

…...

Various:

From El Huff Post here: ‘The Government publishes the "diagnosis" of the blackout, saying that it was due to a combination of factors. The Minister of Energy Transition, Sara Aagesen, has published the report of the Committee for the analysis of the circumstances that caused what the Government calls the "Electricity Crisis," an investigation that singles out both Red Eléctrica de España and the power generating companies’. The government report on the blackout hides, at the request of the power companies, which facilities failed.

The battle over the world’s richest shipwreck and its $16,000 million treasure. Exploraweb says ‘Researchers have finally confirmed that a long-sunken hulk off the coast of Colombia is none other than the San José. The legendary Spanish galleon, which vanished beneath the waves of the Caribbean 300 years ago, has been dubbed the “world’s richest shipwreck.” Now the big question is, who does the treasure belong to?’

An agreement between the PP and Vox in the Alicante town hall leaves that city as a monolingual town – the second language, valenciano, no longer needed. Gràcies.

The question of the co-official languages in Spain has become a political issue. Perhaps it always was. It is certainly almost impossible to find a school outside of those bilingual regions, where one can learn catalán, or galego or (Heaven Forbid!) euskara. The Spanish journalist and consultant for the BoT is J. Antonio Sierra, who has spent (among many other projects) fifty years trying to encourage the teaching of Spain’s minor languages. “...they are all languages ​​as Spanish as is el castellano, and therefore should be allowed to be studied in all official schools and university language institutes, as long as a minimum number of students are enrolled," he maintains in an interview with EFE. More on this here.

The difference between Tinto de Verano and Sangría: first of all, Sangría isn’t (or at least, wasn’t) a Spanish brew at all. It was introduced as a British colonial drink in Martinique in the 1690s, ‘...made with “Madeira wine mixed in a jug with sugar, the juice from a lemon, a little cinnamon and powdered clove, plenty of nutmeg and a crust of toast”...’ The story is at Eye on Spain here.

From Wiki here: ‘The Cabo Machichaco was a steamship built in Newcastle in 1882. It was acquired in 1885 by the Ybarra Company with the aim of using it in the coastal service between Bilbao and Seville, whose first stop was the port of Santander. The ship became part of the history of Santander and Spain on November 3, 1893 when its cargo of 51 tons of dynamite exploded while it was being offloaded at the city's docks, being the largest civil tragedy to occur in Spain in the 19th century. Around 600 people perished in the explosion.

‘Why Didn't the Allies Get Rid of Franco After the Second World War?’ a video on YouTube here. Short and interesting, but with horrible graphics.

…...

See Spain:

From Mapping Spain here: ‘Almodóvar Castle: A great day trip from Córdoba’, with video and plenty of photos.

GuiriGuru brings us an interesting story – the Roman ruins under a suburb of Valencia. ‘Romans Underground’. ‘…Cypresses stand sentinel over the relics, evoking the ghost of a forgotten Roman settlement. We sit among the ruins, tracing the carved lines on the stone tablets, reading the tales of power, love, death, and history inscribed by Roman hands. The stones speak, telling stories of a city that once thrived here over 2,000 years ago’.

And now to a city I confess I have yet to visit – ‘Cuenca: a must-see city in Castilla de La Mancha’ with The Olive Press here.

…...

Letters:

Hi Lenox, I just found this week’s Business over Tapas… in my Spam folder!

Jake.

Maybe if I stopped sending the same ‘Greetings’ each week, regular as clockwork, and instead put ‘Congratulations, you have just won an inflatable cushion…’, the email police would stop their infernal messing with the BoT. Anyway – if necessary, check your ‘Spam’.

…...

Finally:

Los Benders - Oye gato. Mexican rock on YouTube here.