💰 This Week in Spain: Corruption Scandal Hits PSOE

Also: Rent control is (kinda) here, scandalous gay weddings and Illia Topuria's moment.

Feb 29, 2024

By @IanMount and @AdrianBono | February 29, 2024 | Madrid | Issue #46

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🥜 This Week in a Nutshell: If you feel there are so many scandals in Spanish politics that it’s hard to keep up, you’re not the only one. This time it’s the PSOE that’s in trouble and everyone there is trying really hard to make sure they look squeaky clean.

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COVID back in the news

😡 Mask Scandal Make Amnesty Brouhaha Seem Sorta Minor

“I will not end my career as a corrupt man when I am innocent.” With those words, José Luis Ábalos, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s former Public Works minister, refused to resign his seat as an MP for Sánchez’s PSOE socialist party and, by extension, refused to take the fall for a snowballing corruption scandal that threatens to take down Sánchez’s fragile coalition government just three months after it took office. What a week it’s been! Seriously. So let’s dive in… 🍿

🟢 What we know

Investigation into corrupt face mask sales 😷: The Guardia Civil last week arrested Koldo García, one of Ábalos’s advisors at the Public Works Ministry, for allegedly taking bribes on surgical mask sales during the COVID pandemic (not a nice thing, Koldo!). He is accused (no conviction yet, obvs) of taking kickbacks on sales of masks he arranged to the Canary and Balearic Islands (among others) for sales in the tens of millions of dollars. And with these kickbacks, he’s accused of buying beachfront real estate in cash (not smooth if true, Koldo).
Caso Koldo affects PSOE bigwigs: The Canary and Balearic Island governments were run by PSOE leaders when these sales happened, but the two governors lost in last year’s elections, and now they are in the national government, as Speaker of the Parliament (Francina Armengol of the Balearics) and Minister for Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory (Ángel Victor Torres of the Canary islands).
No one knows anything. Ábalos and the politicians in the affected regions are shocked—shocked!—and know nothing (to be honest, they may be telling the truth), and for good measure would like to note that Madrid regional governor Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s brother was at one point accused of selling overpriced masks, though his case was closed.
But still, could Ábalos go please? PSOE pols, led by Deputy PM María Jesús Montero, have pushed Ábalos to resign and go away anyway. Which sorta sounds like “Take the fall and be the scapegoat, okay?” (but what do we know).
When Ábalos refused to leave, the PSOE threw him out of the party. But Ábalos now says he won’t quit his seat (which comes with immunity), so he will instead pass to the Grupo Mixto (aka The Uncool Kids Club). Which means he will now be free to vote however he wants.
Ábalos is unlikely to team up with the likes of PP or Vox, of course, but this really is one more headache for Sánchez and his fragile government coalition that hardly ever seems to have the necessary votes in order to pass a bill.

🟡 The reactions

For Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, this is more than just a headache. In fact, this is widely seen as the worst internal PSOE crisis he’s had to face since his return as party leader in 2017.

Not letting a good ~~headache~~ crisis go to waste, PP boss Alberto Núñez Feijóo used yesterday’s parliamentary session to go after Sánchez, who he accused of “knowing everything and covering it up”. (Abalos, surprisingly—or maybe not—wasn’t present during yesterday’s exchange.)

But… what does Feijóo know? It’s unclear what evidence he’s basing his accusation on. He insisted that Sánchez “knew what was happening” at least three years ago when, in the summer of 2021, he without warning decided to dismiss Ábalos as minister (a decision that, to this day, remains unclear).
Sánchez tried to fight back, claiming it was "embarrassing" that Feijóo thought he could take advantage of a corruption case to score political points.
Sánchez also tried to divert attention by reminding Feijóo that he himself came to be leader of the Populares after another mask corruption accusation. (Feijóo replaced Pablo Casado, who was kicked out after accusing Madrid governor Ayuso’s brother of making outsized profit on masks, as we noted above.)

🔴 What happens next. As in so many investigations in Spain, there have been tons of leaks (which really screws with the cases and the presumption of innocence, just saying) but not of lot of actual facts.

The prosecution in the case said on Wednesday that Koldo had “taken advantage” of his personal relationship with public officials to "exert his influence” and obtain “a beneficial resolution for Soluciones de Gestión”, the company to which the contracts were awarded. Which is bad.
Koldo has been released on bail along with three others. Juan Carlos Cueto, the man behind Soluciones de Gestión, insists that he was trying to help Spaniards with his actions and did not take advantage of the sale of medical supplies. But…the prosecution believes he could have pocketed €9.6m on contracts that totaled up to €54m.

Ultimately, it seems unlikely that more heads won’t roll. Ábalos and Koldo were reportedly inseparable, and the advisor sometimes used the Minister’s office for his own meetings. In addition, Armengol and Torres signed off on some €15m in questioned mask deals when they were regional government heads—and EU corruption fighters are reportedly looking into these deals. None have been accused yet, but it seems almost inevitable that at least one will have to fall for standing near the scandal.

On a more human note, Ábalos was one of the handful of loyal socialist leaders who accompanied Sánchez as he tooled around Spain in his Peugeot 407 in 2017 looking for support to return as the head of the PSOE. The two probably won’t be bundling into a new road trip any time soon…

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💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties this week

1. 🥊 Everybody wants to be Ilia Topuria’s best friend

No one in Spain knew who Illia Topuria was until 12 days ago—literally, look at the Google search data.

But since the mixed martial artist from Georgia (as in the former Soviet republic in the Caucasuses, not Atlanta 😂) won the UFC featherweight title on Feb. 17, everybody in Spain wants to be his best friend.

It came to a head this week. And as you may not be surprised in Spain’s present moment, it took on political overtones.

But why Spain? The 27-year-old Topuria, aka ‘El Matador’, moved to Spain when he was 15 years old and now lives in Alicante (remind us to never pick a fight with a 5’8”/173cm Georgian in Alicante).
And he loves it. For years, he’s been talking about how he loves Spain and is a “hispano-georgiano” and, in fact, displays both the Georgian and Spanish flags in his appearances. “I have an immense love towards Spain and towards Georgia,” he says.

Then Topuria won the champ’s belt, and people started to care. Topuria flew back after winning the title in Anaheim, Calif. and started to make some pointed observations.

How pointed? In his first public appearance after returning, he said, "When I landed, I thought, ‘Why did I have to go through immigration, along with the foreigners and not with the Spaniards.” 🧨
UFC title bout in the new Bernabéu? “I am only going to accept a fight in Spain this year. The goal is to fill a stadium with 80,000 people and they would accept it,” he added.
But there’s another spicy bit. Topuria also said, “That I did not receive congratulations from the leader of our country hurt my heart a little… but I do not hold a grudge and that does not change the love I have for Spain." 💥

Political football time! As you might imagine, this was catnip for, um, critics of PM Pedro Sánchez. And the celebrations of Topuria began.

First stop, Bernabéu: Topuria received a celebratory welcome and ovation before the Real Madrid-Sevilla game on Sunday.
PP visits: Then on Monday Topuria visited Madrid mayor José Luis Martínez Almeida and regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, both of the center-right (and opposed to Sánchez) PP. “Ilia Topuria is the first athlete to give Spain the victory as a UFC featherweight,” Ayuso said. “We welcome you in Madrid as you deserve.”
And then Sánchez-critical media: Topuria topped it off with a visit to El Hormiguero, where he told host Pablo Motos that he had a meeting with Sánchez the next day: “I am going to personally ask him to help me fulfill that dream, which would be to get my Spanish DNI.” Ahem. 🤨

Then it happened. After a brief meeting Tuesday morning, Sánchez took to Twitter/X/whatever to say, “Your effort, dedication and perseverance have led you to fulfill one of your dreams. The second will also become a reality very soon. Your love for Spain will be reflected in your Spanish DNI.”

Now that’s how to campaign for Spanish nationality. Amirite?

2. ⛔ Mi plaza no es tu plaza

King Alfonso XIII reportedly said when he visited Sevilla’s Plaza de España during its construction for the 1929 Iberoamerican Expo, “Sirs, I knew that this was beautiful, but not this beautiful.” It's been pretty much wowing visitors even since, and has even served as the a set for scenes in Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones (see video above).

Times are hard. Now, however, the lovely plaza needs some help. The pressure of the 3 million tourists who visit Sevilla each year has started taking its toll, as has a supposed lack of investment by the previous city administration (though, ojo, this is a claim made by allies of the current administration).
Current Sevilla Mayor José Luis Sanz has now gone on Twitter/X to say that, “We are planning to close the Plaza de España and charge tourists to finance its conservation and ensure its safety.” He also added video that was intended to show its disorder and poor upkeep. His proposal, beyond an entry fee, was to create a kind of management consortium along with the Dirección General de Patrimonio del Estado, which is overseen by the Treasury Minister

The plan to charge tourists an entry fee left no one unmoved. The idea of closing and monetizing public space gives many people that icky feeling because, you know, it’s public, but then again many also think the place looks like poo and we should protect the quote-unquote cultural patrimony (The Asociación para la Conservación del Patrimonio en Andalucía, or Adepa, first suggested closing the Plaza in 2018.). And—surprise!—political argument ensued.

That current Mayor Sanz is from the PP and the former mayor was from the opposing PSOE, so that probably has something to do with it. While visiting Sevilla for the Día de Andalucia Wednesday, Deputy PM (and Treasury Minister) María Jesús Montero of the PSOE said that the government hadn’t yet seen the mayor’s proposal but that it rejected it because “it will not allow the privatization of any public space."
Sevilla’s mayor hit back. He said if the government sent €5m he would have to charge any sort of entrance fee.
And a prominent Sevillano writer agreed with the plan and took the moment to hit out…at the Sevillanos? ”The Plaza de España must be maintained, especially from the vandalism of the Sevillians themselves," said Carlos Herrera.

So where are we? Honestly, it’s too early to tell. We don’t know the intricacies of municipal Spanish law (we know—you’re shocked), but we’d guess closing the Plaza to charge an entry fee will require some kind of agreement with the national government, being that it’s national patrimony.

But it can be done. Barcelona began charging entrance fees for Antoni Gaudí’s famous Park Guëll in 2013, and expanded the for-pay area after COVID. Between 2019 and 2022, the number of tourists who entered dropped from 9m to 4.6m. And in 2023, local authorities announced a €16m investment in the park. So while queuing and paying is certainly annoying (as we can attest), it can offer an upside.
But…at the expense of public space.

3. 👑 Awkward royal family reunions are the best

You know you have a slightly screwy family relationship when the media runs video of you helping your elderly father walk as surprising news.

Royally awkward. That’s what happened Tuesday, when Spain’s King Felipe VI (aka F6) and Queen Letizia attended a memorial service at Windsor Castle for Constantine II of Greece (died Jan. 10, 2023) and ran into F6’s parents, ex-King Juan Carlos I (JC1) and Queen Sofía.
F6 treated JC1 like a normal human being. He offered JC1 his arm to steady him and talked to him as they left the church. Wow! 😱
Royal family Kremlinology. The relations between JC1 and his son have been the focus of constant observation and speculation since bad behavior (that Botswana trip with JC1’s former lover!) and investigations into his alleged financial improprieties impelled JC1 to abdicate in 2014 and then ~~flee~~ move to the UAE in 2020.
Reading the tea leaves. Since then, attention has been paid to the tiniest changes, from JC1’s recent returns to participate in sailing regattas in his beloved Galicia, to the brief hug and kiss F6 gave JC1 last year at the funeral for Constantine II. (TL;DR: They—JC1 and F6—get along better now that JC1’s been away for a while and isn’t so embarrassing/likely to cause the end of the Spanish monarchy).

But what about this awkward memorial service? When Europe’s royals get together, it’s like one gigantic, and royally awkward, family reunion.

Let us trace the lines between the attendees: Constantine II (aka the last King of Greece, who lost the job when the Greek monarchy was abolished in 1973) was: Queen Sofía’s brother, which makes him F6’s uncle; British heir Prince WIlliam’s godfather; Princess Benedikte of Denmark brother-in-law (he was married to Queen Anne-Marie, her sister); Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark’s father; and the second cousin of Prince Philip, father of current British monarch Charles III.
And let’s not forget: JC1 is estranged from Queen Sofía (though no one wants to say it out loud) because of that whole former lover (actually former lovers) thing. But shhh… 🤫

To paraphrase an old Us Weekly feature: Royal families, they’re just like us.

4. 🤵‍♂️🤵‍♂️ A Gay wedding horrifies priests…in 2024?

“An act of sodomitic exaltation” may sound like a fun event to attend these days, but that’s not what Catholic priest Juan Manuel Góndora thought a few days ago when he saw an online clip of two men celebrating a civil wedding that resembled a Catholic ceremony in a hermitage outside El Escorial.

Based on what conservative newspaper ABC says, the footage, which shows two men on their knees by the altar and can later be seen leaving the building holding hands while everyone cheers, was enough to cause a ruckus and even get the Madrid Archdiocese involved.

But wait… can men get gay-married by the Catholic Church now? Of course not, you silly goose! While the hermitage is indeed a recognized Catholic building located inside a private finca that allows all sorts of weddings, priests are not allowed to perform wedding ceremonies that involve homosexual couples.
The images were enough to outrage a few men of the clergy who considered such a sacred sanctuary was possibly being defiled by the attempt to perform an act that is (at least for now) reserved for the straights.
Or, as Madrid priest and blogger Jorge González Guadix posted online, maybe it was one of the “undesired” consequences of Pope Francis’ recent decision to approve the “blessing” of same-sex couples. “Will someone bring things to order?” he concludes.
“If you’re Catholic and get invited to such irreverence”, Góndora tweeted, “do not be complicit in a mortal sin. Pray for their conversion”. He’s obviously getting uninvited to all the fun parties.

There doesn’t seem to be enough information about what transpired that day—mostly because as you can imagine no one cares—but we at Tapa are determined to get to the truth.

So far it’s unclear whether an actual wedding took place (unlikely but what do we know). Whatever the case may be, the Madrid Archbishopric (a real word, by the way) decided to get involved and clarify that it wasn’t “consulted” about the event and that it was held unilaterally by the wedding finca (which is available for all sorts of events and film shootings but apparently not acts of sodomitic exaltation).

So while this all sounds like a nothing burger, this didn’t stop people online from being outraged by it.

PP’s Deputy Health and Education Secretary Esther Muñoz de la Iglesia (her real name!) tweeted back at Góndora criticizing him (!!), saying she was “praying for him” because “his vision of ‘the truth’ wasn’t letting him see how damaging his post was”.
Gondora responded by saying her party was complicit in the culture of death (because, you know, abortion).

Love thy neighbor, everyone!

5. 💸 Ready for national rent price control?

Spain is not impervious to the housing crisis that is affecting pretty much everyone. Skyrocketing rents in urban centers and stagnant salaries are pretty much a recipe for disaster.

But fret not, fellow terrified human: the government is set rent limits…maybe.

That’s because Spain plans to use a “national rental price reference system” to set rental prices in areas that the autonomous communities declare to be “under tension” (the Right to Housing Law, approved last year, comes into play in such ares).

How would that work? Funny you ask…

El País has put together a nice little guide to understand this very exciting and not at all boring topic, so we thought we’d help a bit with the translation.

The declaration is to come into effect on March 13 and applies a different price system for current and future renters. For currently rented homes, if the contract needs to be renewed or a new one made, the price reference for the new contract will be the price of the previous one. Price adjustments could be considered in case of significant changes to the residence (for example, a remodeling or a better energy certificate).
In the case of a previously unrented property, the reference price will be the index price.

There are other elements that determine how much you should be paying in your nice little Chamberí apartment. As El País explains, those factors include the age of the building, whether there’s an elevator or a pool, the floor of the apartment, its energy rating and whether it has special views.

Will this new system will achieve anything? All signs point to no.
Why? Basically nobody has signed up to use it. Only Catalonia has asked to declare certain areas (some 140 municipalities) to be “under tension”. And as we all know, there are many other areas that desperately could use a rental price cut (or higher salaries).
Plus, the prices are far from reality. The media has been having a lot of fun by looking at what a specific apartment costs according to the government and then checking them out on Idealista only to find out that prices are like, 50% higher. Bummer!

But, hey, why not try it? Check out the government’s website where you can price your own rental, at least according to Big Brother. It’s sure to provide cocktail party chatter!

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