Storm warning for the Spanish left. A sordid affair of corruption causes embarrassment within the formation of the Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Jumble: 60,000 euros hidden in shoeboxes by a retired Civil Guard general, an evening in a Madrid brothel, nights in a luxury hotel fueled with cocaine and Viagra with prostitutes chosen from the catalog …
This scandal called “Mediador” involves businessmen but also and above all elected representatives of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE). At the heart of the investigation is Juan Bernardo Fuentes, socialist deputy from the Canary archipelago, forced to resign by his party after being placed in police custody on February 14.
According to a court document consulted by AFP, the elected official would have rendered a service to companies wishing to win public contracts, obtain European subsidies or avoid health inspections during the Covid-19 crisis, in exchange for financial “counterparts”.
Two votes by the end of the year
He offered VIP visits to the Chamber of Deputies, evenings in nightclubs or in a four-star hotel, specifies the court document, against payments of around 3,000 euros. A dinner would also have been organized in Madrid with fifteen socialist deputies in the midst of a pandemic, despite the health restrictions in force.
These revelations have caused deep embarrassment within the Socialist Party, less than three months before the municipal and regional elections (May 28) and only nine months before the legislative elections scheduled for the end of 2023. “This is repugnant behavior”, launched at the end of last week Felix Bolaños, Minister of the Presidency and right arm of Pedro Sanchez.
The PSOE defends itself by recalling that it immediately “excluded” Juan Bernardo Fuentes, but the People’s Party and the far-right formation Vox have called for the creation of a parliamentary commission of inquiry to “establish political responsibilities” in this case.