Political corruption has cost us tens of billions of euros over the past two decades. Some go as far as to say up to 90 billion euros a year. Are we witnessing an unprecedented and unstoppable phenomenon? Or, on the contrary, are we witnessing the death throes of this tragic phenomenon?
If one thing has characterised Spain in recent decades, and especially from the late 1990s until not so many years ago, it is the tragic phenomenon of political corruption. Let us remember that a public servant does not manage his own money, but everyone’s money. He therefore bears a double responsibility: one for managing well what he has in his hands (as everyone should do with their own money), and another because that money is not his. Misusing it, irresponsibly, to finance his party or, at the extreme, simply pocketing it, is extremely serious. It must be punished without hesitation, and it must arouse in society an irrepressible feeling of disgust and revulsion towards such behaviour and towards those responsible for it.
Corruption, like every human trait, will never disappear entirely, any more than greed, envy and a whole host of other elements inherent in human nature will. It can, however, be curbed. And that goal is achieved chiefly by combining two elements. The first is society’s repudiation. A corrupt individual must be removed not only from political activity, but must also feel the “cordon sanitaire” around him: cast out of the circle in which he had placed himself, expelled, like a soldier dishonourably degraded, publicly stripped of the insignia earned over his career. The second is punishment. Freedom brings responsibility. Whoever commits the offence must know that, if caught, he will pay for it. And he will pay not merely with what he has stolen; it must go further. Fines and prison must be a crushing counterweight that acts as a brake on temptation, however human it may be.
With the scene set, how are we doing? I think it is important to break corruption down into different layers that help us understand who is who and, above all, to pinpoint the domino effect that corruption generates. I therefore propose dividing political corruption into:
- Direct political corruption
- Indirect political corruption through mismanagement
- Third-party corruption induced by political corruption
- Direct political corruption
Various sources seem to agree on the following figures for the main corruption cases in Spain:
ERE case: 1.2 billion euros
Pujol case: 3 billion euros
Malaya case: 2.4 billion euros
Púnica case: 3 billion euros
“Black cards” case:12 million euros
Millet case: 6 million
Imelsa case: 3 million
Direct political corruption has two components. We must distinguish between money processed illegally and money allegedly considered fraud. In the ERE case, for example, of the 855 million, some 152 million are considered fraud. In simple terms, part of the money was received by workers genuinely affected by an ERE (redundancy scheme), but through improper procedures, while other sums went straight into hands that had nothing to do with it. In the cases I set out, I refer to the first amount, which may coincide with the sum defrauded or of which the latter may be a percentage. It should also be noted that in some cases the figures are estimates since, in the absence of a final ruling, they have not been validated by a court.
Corruption affects the whole of Spain and every political party that held office during that period. Some 160 cases of political corruption in Spain are known to be under investigation or concluded. The number of proceedings runs to some 1,700, with around 500 people charged or under investigation, of whom only about 20 have been convicted or gone to prison.
Figure 1: Own elaboration based on public data @canosfm
- Indirect political corruption
Political corruption is especially damaging because it does not stop at the sums directly defrauded; in many cases the effect is multiplied, as the rest of society has to bail out the damage done. The rescue of the cajas (Spain’s savings banks) is a clear example. That direct collateral impact is estimated at some 60 billion euros by the Bank of Spain itself. We also see that this effect occurred between 2008 and 2014.
And there is one more item within this indirect political corruption that I consider noteworthy and wish to associate with political corruption. I am talking about “Squandering in the boom years”: airports without aircraft, empty multi-million-euro property developments, megalomaniac projects that are hard to justify.
I highlight a few of them:
- Bailout of the Madrid radial motorways: 5 billion euros
- Water-themed architectural complex in Zaragoza: 2.25 billion euros
- City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia: 1.282 billion euros
- City of Culture in Santiago: 400 million euros
- City of Light in Alicante: 350 million euros
- Forum of Cultures in Barcelona: 240 million euros
When it comes to infrastructure, not all is lost. Unless the road ends at a precipice (there is a bit of everything; see the Talavera bridge) or the airport vanishes into the dust of the scrubland, they will eventually be used. Yet we are talking about a resource that once seemed infinite and inexhaustible, but which reality has taught us is scarce: money. And since it does not stretch to everything our beloved politicians may dream up, choices have to be made. And choosing means picking one thing and rejecting others. That is why society must react and build this “cordon sanitaire” around them. Building a pedestrian airport means not building a hospital, or a school, or not shortening waiting lists in the public health service by adding technical and human resources. A politician does what he does basically because he expects it to be appreciated by his voters, and thus to stay in power. This may be a simplistic description lacking in nuance, but I am sure many will agree with its essence. If we vote for them again, we will be validating their perception and becoming accomplices in preferring that pedestrian airport to a better education for our children.
- Third-party corruption induced by political corruption
This chapter should include all the conduct of institutions, companies or individuals who, sheltered by a corrupt political situation, have engaged in activities that, by exploiting privileged information, have redounded to their own benefit and to the detriment of society. In plain terms, they have taken a margin they would not have been entitled to in a non-corrupt situation, thereby taking it away from the common good. This figure is extremely difficult to assess, since it is the second or third derivative of corruption. Yet common sense tells us that it has had the greatest impact, both in monetary terms and in its influence on our behaviour and on the image we project as a society. Considerable controversy has recently been stirred by statements such as those of the journalist Cristina Fallarás, who estimates (though without explaining how she arrives at the figure) that corruption is costing Spanish society some 90 billion euros a year, or roughly 2,000 euros per Spaniard (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdaW0ueQE-s).
On the data available so far, and putting the issue in perspective, the monetary impact of political corruption in Spain would be approximately 150 billion euros spread over two decades, with a direct peak at the start of this century’s first decade and another peak, the result of the collateral effect of that political corruption, in the first part of the current decade. This is a very significant figure: it represents 1.5% of Spanish GDP.
We could be populist and work out how many schools, hospitals, care for dependent people, retraining for the unemployed, support for start-ups and entrepreneurs, cuts in social security contributions and so on could have been funded with that money. A great deal, no doubt. The worst impact, however, is on Spanish culture and society. We seem to be witnessing the twilight of this monetary impact, but if the impact on culture and society is not corrected, the peaks will undoubtedly return. It is up to all of us to make sure they do not. Let us reward those who do things well and punish those who do not.
Francisco Canós
Article published on 12 July 2017 in:
