⚖️ This Week in Spain: Law and Disorder
The Attorney General is in trouble and Columbus's heritage has been revealed, maybe.
By @IanMount and @AdrianBono | October 17, 2024 | Madrid | Issue #74
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🥜 This Week in a Nutshell: Move over, incarcerated ETA terrorists! You’re already old news because this week it’s all about the Attorney General being put under investigation by the Supreme Court over leaking information related to Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s partner. What a time to be alive.
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Watching the detectives
⚖️ Sánchez’s top prosecutor gets prosecuted (or at least persecuted)
You ever say something you wish you didn’t say and after a while it goes away but then BOOM 💥 it comes back and bites you on the butt? Spain’s Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz had one of those days yesterday.
How do we know? Because that’s when the Supreme Court announced an investigation into an attorney general for the first time in Spain’s 47-year-old democracy (literally, the headline in El País was “El Supremo encausa por primera vez en democracia a un fiscal general del Estado”).
Give me the details, please! Way back in March (those were the days!), news was
publishedleaked that Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s boyfriend Alberto González Amador was in trouble for dodging taxes on money he made selling COVID masks (lots of money—we covered). Then someone (people apparently in Ayuso’s orbit) leaked a false story that the tax man had offered to cut a deal with Amador.Shortly thereafter, the actual email between Amador’s lawyer and the tax man was leaked showing that Amador’s side had been the one asking for a deal—and the prosecutor’s office put out a press release rebutting the original hoax.
What’s the problem with that? Amador, along with the modestly named Illustrious Bar Association of Madrid (ICAM), filed complaints against the prosecutors involved in the case, saying that the press release incorrectly revealed Amador’s confidential information (Amador also complained about the email leak). As García Ortiz was behind the press release—“We made a press release, for which I am the only one responsible, to deny a hoax,” he said—the case was kicked up from a local Madrid court to the Supreme Court because of his immunity from lower courts.
What now? The Supreme Court—which leans conservative, while García Ortiz is a Sánchez/socialist appointee—basically said, nah, the press release doesn’t matter because most of the stuff in it was already known to the public. But this leaked email, that’s BAD. So we’re going to investigate García Ortiz for that.
Throwing gas on fire. That’s not great for García Ortiz or Sánchez because…polarization. The PP (and Vox) quickly demanded that the AG resign immediately (no surprise there) and Ayuso’s circle one-upped that by demanding that the AG and Sánchez resign (no surprise, but ¡que cojones!). The two right-leaning prosecutor groups (AF and APIF) also said he should step down, while the left-wing one (UPF) said he should stay. So…not political at all!
Word from the AG? García Ortiz said he would stay and, in an interview with the government-friendly national broadcaster TVE, he laid out his defense: “I know what I did, so I am very clear that the outcome of the investigation can only be one. Where to go and the gathering of evidence is up to the Supreme Court, but I know that I did not leak any emails.”
So many cooks in the kitchen! 🧑🍳 García Ortiz added that “many more” than 16 or 17 people had access to the emails and he only learned about the leak when it hit the press.
Ultimately? It seems like García Ortiz won’t face grave legal trouble because, for one thing, it will be hard to track down the leaks, and two, he may quite literally not have done it.
But he arguably deserves to face scrutiny because leaks from the prosecutors’ office are not conducive to justice being blind 🧑🦯 (we’ve been told that’s what it’s supposed to be). As García Ortiz himself told TVE, “Leaks are a cancer that prevents processes from developing normally.”
And, when an AG plays politics with a tax fraud case—and that’s what this seems to be, considering the AG doesn’t put out a press release every time someone says something untrue about a case, but yes when this political opponent did—it makes the law look less impartial too, right?
Considering the speed of Spanish justice…we should have a resolution by 2027.
More news below. 👇👇
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💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties this week
1. 🏡 Did we stutter? Yes Spain does have a housing problem
As a gentle reminder to those who hadn’t noticed that Spain has a housing affordability problem, thousands of (largely young) people marched in Madrid Sunday to emphasize that “housing is a right, not a business.”
Now, that might not entirely be true—like, owners rent out their apartments to make money, which is a perfectly viable business that provides a service for people who want to rent—but the crowds who thronged the center of Madrid were cheesed off how expensive it was to buy or rent anything. And you know how we know this was a real, grass-roots demonstration? They were angry at the PSOE and the PP.
So what do they want? The marchers (22,000 according to the government, 100,000-400,000 according to organizers, because math is now an opinion) called for lower rents (a 50% cut) and, if they didn’t get it, a rent strike. “If you keep raising prices, we will stop paying them and there will be no police, courts or thugs to evict us all,” said renters union speaker Valeria Racu, who also called for the resignation of Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez (PSOE). (Showing political equanimity, a leader of the CCOO union of Madrid accused regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso (PP) of “dereliction of duties.”)
Indeed it’s tough. 66% of young people 18-34 live in their parental home, compared to 50% in 2010. 65% of renters spend more than 25% of their income on housing; 31% spend more than 40%. Salaries have gone up less than 20% since 2015 while home prices have gone up over 50% in Madrid, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. And barely 90,000 new units are being built a year, less than half the annual numbers in the 1990s (and let's not talk about the 2000-2008 boom years, when it hit 654,573 in 2006!).
That was quick! Maybe should have thought about it longer? A day after the protest, PM Sánchez announced that his government would again provide €200m for the so-called Bono Alquiler Joven, which would give young people (<35 and of modest means) a €250/month rent subsidy. It was immediately hit with a wall of criticism, however.
Everyone’s a critic—Left. Sumar—PSOE’s junior coalition partner—and formerly important lefty party Podemos both said the money would have the exact opposite of the desired effect As in, Sumar MP Íñigo Errejón said it would "give another Bizum of public money to the landlords, who will keep the public aid and raise prices again"—which is probably true, to be honest.
Everyone’s a critic—Right. And the PP, never one to miss a chance to diss the PSOE, called it “no improvement”, while Vox spokesperson Pepa Millán added that, “What Spain needs to do is liberalize land, build housing, reduce taxes on the sale and rental of housing and stop treating property owners like real criminals." Which almost sounds sensible until you realize it’s Vox.
What works? Rent caps haven’t so far—in Catalonia they led to a minor drop in prices along with a huge drop in the number of new rental contracts as owners shifted their apartments to the short-term market or mothballed them. Most political parties agree that Spain needs more low-income housing—and more housing in general—as well as a cutback of the tourist and temporary housing that takes units off the markets. But those solutions require the one thing people don’t have (besides money): patience.
Marches are planned in Valencia on Oct. 19 and Malaga Nov. 9.
2.💰 PP accuses PSOE of taking literal bags of cash
Remember the infamous Koldo Case? No? Here’s a recap:
The Guardia Civil arrested Koldo García, an advisor to former Public Works Minister José Luis Ábalos, earlier this year for allegedly taking bribes on millions in COVID-era surgical mask sales.
The PP said everyone in the PSOE knew about this—including PM Sánchez—but the party closed ranks and isolated Ábalos, now an MP, who ended up quitting the party (but not his seat in Parliament). The investigation continued but it seemed the government managed to dodge a bullet.
This week the case is back in the news.
The PP filed a lawsuit Monday against the PSOE for illegal financing, money laundering, bribery, and influence peddling in the Koldo Case, alleging that there was a payment of €90,000 in cash at the party’s HQ. The accusation is “based on testimonies from two anonymous individuals” that were published on the online news outlet The Objective a week ago.
Besides the PSOE, the lawsuit also targets Koldo García, businessman Víctor Gonzalo De Aldama (who is already under investigation in the Koldo Case), and Claudio Rivas, a businessman connected to De Aldama and hydrocarbon company Villafuel.
The PP says the testimonies included in The Objective’s article have “reasonable credibility” that “reinforce the existing indications of criminal activity” so they approached the Audiencia Nacional with the lawsuit.
The PP now wants the people working at the reception of the PSOE HQ in October 2020 to be identified, as that is the time when the alleged delivery of the €90K took place. The PP believes this money could have been used to obtain a license for the company Villafuel to operate in the hydrocarbons market. The PSOE? It’s calling the whole thing “a joke”.
Sánchez’s all-terrain minister Félix Bolaños took to Twitter/X to reply there was no credibility behind the accusation because “we don’t know who these people are or if they even exist”.
Education Minister Pilar Alegría said in a press conference this was an example of the so-called “mud machine” at work: “Anonymous testimonies are published, and a complaint is amplified and brought to justice by the PP”.
Not so fast, though. Because this morning the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, (which is actually leading the investigation into the Koldo Case) opposed the admission of the PP lawsuit, mainly because it’s based on anonymous media reports and nothing else.
It is now up to the judge to decide whether to accept or reject the lawsuit, but the PP is assuming that there’s a “big possibility” that it will not be accepted.
So, all in all, a nothing burger 🍔 that has taken hours of airwaves and rivers of ink. Or…big bags of cash?
3.🤫 King Emeritus Juan Carlos I’s infidelities come to light
For decades, the fact that King Emeritus Juan Carlos I was a womanizer while he reigned has been the worst-kept secret in the world. True, there has been a concerted effort by government institutions and the media to insulate him from these rumors since the 70s but still, Queen Sofía’s face when standing next to him usually said it all. Marta Gayá, Barbara Rey, Corinna Larsen… the long list of “special friends” to the King was, well, long.
But we’re living in 2024 now and it’s really hard to keep things under wraps. Finally, a few weeks ago, Spain received photographic evidence of the Monarch’s peccadillos and it all came out in spectacular fashion (just not in the way you think).
Dutch magazine Prive published some never-before-seen photos of JC I and actress Bárbara Rey being affectionate with each other back in the 90s, when the two were apparently having a fling.
Again, everyone knew this was happening back then—something that Rey has told a million times on television. In fact, if you want to know more about their relationship, check out the 2023 Netflix series Untameable, which details Rey’s tumultuous marriage to circus performer Angel Cristo and her affair with the former King.
Operación Persa. The shock, however, has been related to the undercover operation that took place between 1994 and 2004 (called “Operation Persian”), after Rey began blackmailing the Royal Palace and threatening to release footage of the monarch in, ahem, compromising situations unless they paid her tons of money.
This was all revealed last week in explosive audios in which she could be heard admitting that she took 35 million pesetas (Euros weren’t a thing back then).
Cats? No one really knows why it was called Operation Persian, El País reports. (One theory? Rey loved Persian cats). But it looks like payments were made to keep her quiet and avoid a scandal that could affect the image of the man who back then was the symbol of Spain’s democratic transition.
However, there are two very big problems that come with these reveals. First, the payments were made with public money (which, we’re told, is pretty bad). The second involves a bit of Spanish history and is much more intriguing.
As you know… Everyone in Spain knows 23-F refers to Feb. 23, 1981, when the military staged a coup against the still infant democratic government and broke into Parliament on live television, guns blazing (watch the jaw-dropping footage here). Fortunately, the coup failed and, at least according to history books, it was thanks to King Juan Carlos I, who remained firm and refused to support the military leaders.
One of those leaders (aka conspirators) was Alfonso Armada, who was planning to become Prime Minister of Spain. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison and got a “compassionate” release a few years later due to health reasons.
Why are we telling you all this? Turns out in one of the audios with Rey, the former King is heard celebrating the fact that Armada has not said “a single word” about him after being released from prison.
What did he keep quiet about? We don’t know. It’s public knowledge that Armada and JC I met a few times in February before the coup, but this doesn’t mean anything. However, El País says that, according to the memoirs of former Parliamentary Speaker José Bono, the King was a little involved in the coup—he just didn’t think it would get that bad (and was just hoping to “reset” the government).
Considering that JC I has been writing his own memoirs—which should be coming out soon—it will be interesting to read whether he will be discussing the 23-F in it. Don’t hold your breath though.
4. 🌎 Columbus was Spanish and Jewish (maybe)
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. It was also the year that the patrons of his exploration, the Reyes Católicos (Catholic monarchs) Isabel I of Castilla and Fernando II of Aragón, expelled Jews from Spain, thus beginning the Sephardic diaspora (Sepharad means the Iberian peninsula).
Wouldn’t that be a weird coincidence? Guess what? It seems that Columbus too was Jewish. 🤨 At least that’s according to a documentary on national media RTVE—”Columbus DNA: His True Origin.”—that premiered on Saturday, Oct. 12, which also happens to be the day Columbus was meant to have arrived in the New World and all. (That was not a coincidence.)
The evidence. University of Granada forensics expert José Antonio Lorente led research, over 20+ years, that he says shows Columbus’s DNA is “compatible” with being Jewish. Using DNA from our boy Cristobal and his son Hernando, Lorente said the researchers found Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA that fit that.
So where was he from? Apparently not Genoa (where there weren’t many Jews and also, he didn’t write in Italian). Lorente surmises that Columbus was from the Western Med, i.e. Catalonia, Valencia, or the Balearic Islands, which were part of the Crown of Aragón at the time.
There are doubts, yes? Yes. Lots. First off, Columbus’ supposed remains made quite a trip around the world. After dying in Valladolid in 1506, his body was taken to Sevilla in 1509 and then to his cherished Santo Domingo in 1544, and then Havana (Cuba) in 1795, and then back to Sevilla in 1899 after Spain lost its Caribbean colonies the year before. Oh, and then the tiny bone fragments that supposedly were his were exhumed from Sevilla in 2003.
Not published. El País and other papers trotted out lots of experts to say, basically, the dude Lorente hasn’t shown his work and hasn’t published anything peer-reviewed. Premier Columbus expert Consuelo Varela dissed the claims in the Diario de Sevilla, saying, “When Lorente justifies these claims in a prestigious scientific journal with arguments and data, we will judge. This documentary was like Hola (aka Hello Magazine). I found it disappointing."
Can’t pinpoint. Miguel C. Botella, professor of physical anthropology at the University of Granada, added that people moved around the Med a lot so there’s no way of knowing that Columbus was Spanish (or more specifically Catalan, as some claim): “It’s impossible to determine origins with DNA.” He added that “This is just an entertainment program.”
Where does that leave us? Well, in the face of the blowback on his claims, Lorente issued a statement in which he said the complete and detailed scientific results of the research would be presented at a press conference at the University of Granada in November. Until then, we can speculate—which is fun! Just don’t tell Tony Soprano!
5.👂La Oreja de Van Gogh is losing its lead singer—again
By now, if you’ve been to a party with Spanish people (or karaoke) you’ve certainly heard this song called Rosas by iconic Basque pop-rock band La Oreja de Van Gogh (yes, the band is called Van Gogh’s Ear).
The band has been huge in Spain as well as in Latin America, France, the UK or even Japan since its beginnings in the late 90s, creating many classics—such as Rosas—that make people at the bar want to hug each other while holding a beer and crying.
Of course, that doesn’t mean they haven’t had their fair share of drama.
Chau lead singer. After winning a Latin Grammy and an MTV Europe Music Awards (alongside plenty others) and filling many stadiums, their lead singer Amaia Montero decided to call it quits in 2007 to pursue a solo career.
Shock or not, by May 2008, the band announced they had found a replacement: Leire Martínez, who had recently risen to fame after participating in the first season of The X Factor Spain (or Factor X, as it was called here).
In the end, the band continued being successful, releasing several albums while Montero went on to become an international star. So, happy. Right?
Montero, however, took a break the stage after 2019. According to local media, she was suffering from stress and anxiety and checked herself into a mental health institution. She checked out soon after but avoided public appearances.
She made a triumphant—and unexpected—return three months ago when she appeared as a surprise guest artist at Karol G’s concert in Madrid. They both sang Rosas at the Bernabeu Stadium and it was epic, with people all over Spain praising her return (and crying because, again, it was epic).
After her reappearance, people on social media started saying that hey… maybe she’s also returning to the band! (Something that Martínez, the band’s then-current lead, didn’t like very much).
Fast forward to October 2024—i.e. now.
While La Oreja de Van Gogh was closing their tour in Zaragoza a few days ago, Martínez could be seen shedding a few tears on stage, which sparked rumors about her potential departure.
These rumors were confirmed this Monday afternoon when the band posted a message on social media announcing that its four original members were parting ways with her because they had failed to agree on “how to live the band”.
Local media reports she was fired (after 17 years!) and while she has (allegedly) signed an NDA, she told a journalist friend on the Telemadrid network that “the band issued the statement they considered appropriate… I haven’t signed it.” Ooh! And, “When I’m OK I will tell the story myself.” See? Drama!
To make things spicier🌶️, Martínez’s departure has reignited the rumors that Montero will rejoin the band.
In a bombshell scoop announced by Spain’s favorite gossip show Ni Que Fueramos Shhh (that’s the real name, yes), journalist Javier De Hoyos announced that the band and Montero were reuniting for a once-in-a-lifetime concert next year.
One thing is certain: this will certainly be discussed at the dinner party this weekend.
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