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| The fall of Rajoy: how Gürtel affair defeated Spain's great survivor | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| In January 2012, Mariano Rajoy texted a friend who was going through a rough patch. | In January 2012, Mariano Rajoy texted a friend who was going through a rough patch. |
| “Luis, stay strong,” he wrote. “Luis, we are doing what we can.” | “Luis, stay strong,” he wrote. “Luis, we are doing what we can.” |
| Luis was Luis Bárcenas, a former treasurer in Rajoy’s People’s party (PP) and the focus of persistent allegations that Spain’s ruling party was receiving illegal funding. | Luis was Luis Bárcenas, a former treasurer in Rajoy’s People’s party (PP) and the focus of persistent allegations that Spain’s ruling party was receiving illegal funding. |
| Rajoy’s soothing words would come back to haunt him – as would Bárcenas and his business dealings. | Rajoy’s soothing words would come back to haunt him – as would Bárcenas and his business dealings. |
| Last week, Spain’s highest criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, found Bárcenas guilty of crimes including fraud and money laundering, jailing him for 33 years and fining him €44m (£38.5m). | |
| Not for nothing was the Gürtel case, as it came to be known, billed as the trial of the year. As well as juicy details ranging from Swiss bank accounts to the hiring of clowns for children’s birthday parties, the case involved several former senior PP members, including Bárcenas. | Not for nothing was the Gürtel case, as it came to be known, billed as the trial of the year. As well as juicy details ranging from Swiss bank accounts to the hiring of clowns for children’s birthday parties, the case involved several former senior PP members, including Bárcenas. |
| The proceedings centred on Francisco Correa, an executive with close ties to the PP who was accused of paying bribes to party officials between 1999 and 2006 in return for contracts to carry out public works and organise events. The police investigation was codenamed Gürtel, the German word for correa (“belt” in Spanish). | The proceedings centred on Francisco Correa, an executive with close ties to the PP who was accused of paying bribes to party officials between 1999 and 2006 in return for contracts to carry out public works and organise events. The police investigation was codenamed Gürtel, the German word for correa (“belt” in Spanish). |
| Bárcenas and Correa – who was handed a 51-year sentence – were among the 29 defendants convicted and jailed last week. Eight others were acquitted. | Bárcenas and Correa – who was handed a 51-year sentence – were among the 29 defendants convicted and jailed last week. Eight others were acquitted. |
| But far more damning was the court’s ruling that the PP had profited, albeit unknowingly, from the illegal kickbacks-for-contracts scheme. Not only did the judges order the party to pay a €240,000 fine, they also expressed doubts over the credibility of the testimony Rajoy had given last July when he became the first serving Spanish prime minister to give evidence in a criminal trial. | |
| Rajoy, who was the PP’s vice-secretary general between 1990 and 2003, told the court that his duties during the period in question were exclusively political and not financial. He also dismissed suggestions that a slush fund was used to pay illegal bonuses to senior party officials as “absolutely false”. | Rajoy, who was the PP’s vice-secretary general between 1990 and 2003, told the court that his duties during the period in question were exclusively political and not financial. He also dismissed suggestions that a slush fund was used to pay illegal bonuses to senior party officials as “absolutely false”. |
| However, in their ruling, the Audiencia Nacional judges confirmed the existence of a slush fund known as “box B”, describing it as “an accounting and finance structure that ran in parallel with the official one and which had been in use since at least 1989”. | However, in their ruling, the Audiencia Nacional judges confirmed the existence of a slush fund known as “box B”, describing it as “an accounting and finance structure that ran in parallel with the official one and which had been in use since at least 1989”. |
| Even for a party as steeped in corruption allegations as Rajoy’s, the reputational damage was disastrous. | Even for a party as steeped in corruption allegations as Rajoy’s, the reputational damage was disastrous. |
| The prime minister, a man famed for his powers of survival and inveterate tendency to sit back and let others make the first move, suddenly looked vulnerable. For perhaps the first time in his long political career, the 63-year-old Galician had begun to bleed. | The prime minister, a man famed for his powers of survival and inveterate tendency to sit back and let others make the first move, suddenly looked vulnerable. For perhaps the first time in his long political career, the 63-year-old Galician had begun to bleed. |
| His opponents were quick to pick up the scent. The day after the Gürtel sentences were handed down, the Spanish socialist party announced it had filed a motion of no confidence in Rajoy. The verdict in the case, said the PSOE leader, Pedro Sánchez, had “seriously damaged the health of our democracy”. | |
| The aim of the motion, he said, was “to bring normality back to our public life and to do away with this corruption thriller into which the People’s party has plunged our politics, so that we can talk about the things that matter to our citizens”. | The aim of the motion, he said, was “to bring normality back to our public life and to do away with this corruption thriller into which the People’s party has plunged our politics, so that we can talk about the things that matter to our citizens”. |
| Rajoy’s response was blunt. He said: “This motion is bad for Spain, bad for Spaniards, brings with it too much uncertainty and is damaging to all citizens.” | Rajoy’s response was blunt. He said: “This motion is bad for Spain, bad for Spaniards, brings with it too much uncertainty and is damaging to all citizens.” |
| For most of the past week, things appeared to be going Rajoy’s way. The centre-right Ciudadanos party refused to have anything to do with the motion, calling instead for a snap election. | For most of the past week, things appeared to be going Rajoy’s way. The centre-right Ciudadanos party refused to have anything to do with the motion, calling instead for a snap election. |
| But then rumours began to circulate that the small Basque Nationalist party was on the verge of supporting Sánchez’s motion, even though Rajoy had offered the region increased investment to win its backing for his recent budget. Its backing proved crucial, helping the PSOE eject Rajoy from office in Friday morning’s vote. | |
| “It has been an honour to be the prime minister of Spain,” Rajoy told parliament as he waited for the axe to fall. “It has been an honour to leave a better Spain than the one I found.” | “It has been an honour to be the prime minister of Spain,” Rajoy told parliament as he waited for the axe to fall. “It has been an honour to leave a better Spain than the one I found.” |
| Even Rajoy’s critics would not deny the role he played in bringing Spain back from the brink of economic ruin. But he is likely to be remembered more for his handling of the Catalan independence crisis and for his stubborn and ultimately fatal refusal to deal with the festering issue of corruption within the PP. | Even Rajoy’s critics would not deny the role he played in bringing Spain back from the brink of economic ruin. But he is likely to be remembered more for his handling of the Catalan independence crisis and for his stubborn and ultimately fatal refusal to deal with the festering issue of corruption within the PP. |
| Rajoy took his own advice, staying strong right up to the vote. But in the end, there was nothing he, or anyone else, could do. | Rajoy took his own advice, staying strong right up to the vote. But in the end, there was nothing he, or anyone else, could do. |
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