When Friendship Is Not Corrupt

Spain has slipped to number 40 in the worldwide ranking of corruption by country issued by Transparency International. This is a ranking which is called the "Corruption Perceptions Index". The title is quite important. While it can be relatively straightforward to highlight cases of corruption - as with those which come to courts - it is less straightforward to make tangible the intangible, an underlying sense of corruption or of not. The perception of corruption.

Some reaction to Spain's fall to number 40 has been predictable enough. On one side, it is a clear consequence of highly publicised corruption cases and is therefore unsurprising. On the other side, it means little because every country is corrupt and Spain is no more so than any other. Both reactions carry elements of truth but where the latter is concerned, it is far too simplistic a reaction. It is also, in a sense, irrelevant. While Spain can see where it ranks in relation to other countries, comparison really isn't the issue. What is, is that there is a stronger perception of corruption in Spain than in many European (and other countries), and such a perception goes beyond the highly publicised cases; it has to, as corruption is a societal matter as much as it is a political one. The perception is, in effect, a measure of the totality of corruption: how pervasive it is or is not; how rooted within society's mores it is or is not.

We are familiar with the highly publicised cases in Spain, be they those related to the caso Gürtel, to the King's son-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarin, and (though only possibly) to Mariano Rajoy, supposedly the recipient of illegal payments, as noted in the ledgers of former Partido Popular treasurer, Luis Bárcenas. That Rajoy has not been charged with anything, and probably never will be charged, does not reduce the perception of corruption. Quite the opposite. It is the very fact that he has appeared in the Bárcenas ledgers which just adds to the perception.

Mallorca has been described as being one of the most if not the most corrupt parts of Spain, the result of the numerous corruption cases that have arisen, especially since the end of the Matas government and the fall of his one-time partners, the old Unió Mallorquina party. Jaume Matas, a former president, is a high-profile case, so he is another reason for the perception of Spain's corruption being as it is. But of the Matas-related cases to have been brought to court thus far, there is evidence of the wider pervasiveness of corruption, even if this is not evidence of what we might typically consider to be corruption or indeed what many people in Mallorca might consider to be less than fully appropriate. Money doesn't have to change hands. Positions of power do not have to be given. All that is needed is a favour, one born out of what might even be thought of as a societal acceptance of the power of friendship - the "amiguismo" network, a phenomenon which is very much more pervasive in Spain and Mallorca than it might be in other countries. It has to be more pervasive. If it were not, then why is it so often referred to when it is not elsewhere?

Matas has just been found guilty of having abused his position in order to secure a job for his wife. His defence was that he was only doing what any "father of the family" would do. He almost certainly believed he wasn't doing anything wrong. Everyone does the same, or so Matas would doubtless believe. Everyone might do the same if they were in a similar position which could be abused and have a similar network of friends of whom a favour could be asked. Not everyone does, and so no, not everyone does the same. Only some.

Maite Areal, Matas's wife, received a salary of 42,000 euros for a job she never carried out. She was on the payroll of the Valparaiso hotel in Palma, a hotel which forms part of the Grupotel chain. Its president and founder, Miguel Ramis, himself a former mayor of Muro who has been disqualified from public office, told the court he had agreed to Matas's request as a favour.

So here is an example of how inappropriate behaviour extends its tentacles into wider society, the business world in this case, and in so doing, it casts a shadow over how that business world and the political world actually operate and interact. It casts a further shadow into Mallorcan society because of connections that a large hotel chain might have. And indeed the court also heard from another Miguel Ramis, one-time mayor of Alcúdia, himself associated with hotels, the PP's Balearics spokesperson and the nephew of the other Miguel Ramis. The appointment of Matas's wife was one based on friendship not on politics, he told the court.

Wheels within wheels, friendships within friendships. Not obviously corrupt. Just how it is. Perceptions count for a great deal.

* For the record, and so by way of comparison, Spain is not the worst of the European countries which once formed the pre-Soviet/Balkans break-up, "democratic" Europe. Italy is 69th, Greece is 80th. The most virtuous of these countries are Denmark (first), Finland, Sweden and Norway (third, fourth and fifth), Switzerland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Iceland and, in fourteenth spot, the UK. Of non-European countries ahead of Spain are New Zealand (second), Singapore, Barbados, the USA, Chile, Qatar and Botswana.

Nora's Batty Appointment

Let's face it, there's never a dull moment at Pollensa town hall. It is though it exists primarily for entertainment and all-round amusement purposes rather than as an instrument of local democracy. Much though we might all have thought that the passing of Joan Cerdà as mayor would have created a situation of relative normality, we were quite clearly wrong. It is hard to know if Pollensa really is as mad as it seems or if it is only because we are aware of the nuttiness thanks to the opposition parties trying to outdo each other in bringing the nuttiness to everyone's attention. But long may they continue to do so, especially when they throw up the batty case of Nora, the missing sixth element of the Partido Popular in the town hall's admin.

Nora Tugores, full name Nora Tugores Cifre (aka Encrypt), was number six on the list of candidates for the PP at the last local election. Five councillors were voted in and as Nora was sixth, she found herself without a job. (You do to truly understand what this means have to have some knowledge of how proportional representation operates in a Mallorcan style, but I'm not about to go into all of that. Just accept the fact that she was sixth on the list.)

Nora has, however, found herself a job. Or rather, the mayor Tomeu Cifre (aka Encrypt) has given her one; unless he has to take it away from her, which he may well have to on account of the furore the appointment has caused. The mayor reckons that the full-time mayoral secretary, a town hall employee, has too much work to do and so another secretary is needed. Come on down therefore, Nora Tugores Encrypt.

The opposition parties are as one in being totally scandalised by the appointment and have been threatening to make Facebook explode under the weight of their indignation. Apart from the fact that there already is a secretary (albeit she is a bit pushed), there is the small matter of the fact that because Nora was sixth on the list, the appointment smacks of creating another councillor (an unelected one at that). This is the drift of the argument against Nora being given a job, though as she would only be performing secretarial duties one assumes, it is stretching outrage to suggest that she will be acting like a councillor. Nevertheless, the opposition parties do have a legitimate complaint, if for no other reason than that the appointment is an unashamed example of "amiguismo".

The opposition had called on the leader of the La Lliga party that is in coalition with the PP to voice her disquiet with the appointment as well. This she has now done, having gone on to Radio Pollença (paid for by the town hall of course) and voiced it. In so doing she has not only proved that there is some point to Radio Pollença, rather than just being there for Luther Vandross records to be played on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, she has also made the situation for the mayor very much more difficult. The Alternativa, for one, is hinting that the mayor may be subject to a motion of censure. And if this were to be passed, he might well have to go.

You do have to wonder at the failure of politicians to appreciate that certain appointments might be seen as falling slightly short of the wholly appropriate. And so you therefore wonder why they ever make them. There was the case not so long ago of the tourism minister Carlos Delgado giving a job in the ministry to his girlfriend. The outcry, notwithstanding the fact that she may have been eminently suited to the post (Delgado's defence), led to the job being swiftly taken away from her. The mayor is surely going to have follow Delgado's example. The appointment isn't just batty, it is downright stupid.

Mallorca (and Spain) struggle with the incestuousness of amiguismo and nepotism. It is one of the worst traits of the political (and business) system that friends, relatives or lovers can get jobs when others can't. There is also a struggle with transparency and fairness. Mayor Cifre, who is a vast improvement on Cerdà and of whom there were high hopes, has, I'm afraid, disappointed a lot of people with this appointment. He must revoke it.

Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.