La corrupción y blanqueo de dinero

Many of my expat frinds have commented on the apparently endemic corruption on Spain. I always regarded it as an unavoidable feature of life here and never made any moral judgement on it.

At a low level, it appears as a way of topping up meagre salaries.

I am now aware of a whole new dimension of corruption which I find morally offensive. I have discovered that council employees are paid bonuses according to how much benefit they can avoid paying out to claimants that are entitled. The level of these bonuses is such that said council officials can go out and buy a new car or put down a mortgage on a house. So, those who have no advocates who can fill in the forms and write letters the way that ticks the right boxes are denied money that they need. We are not talking about benefit fraud here; this is denying hard-working families money to food in their children's mouths. So, instead of helping those that need it, the council employees are lining their own pockets.

So, you ask where is this corruption to be found? Well it's NOT Spain. It's in the UK! The so-called bastion of fair play has stooped to the lowest form of moral corruption whereby money is withheld from the most vulnerable and defenceless.

If you want to get benefit in the UK you need an advocate to fight for you. This is why certain groups are so successful at getting it. They have the systems in place to get it for them; and good luck to them. I shall be putting this to my MP with a view to having the "civil servant" who invented this scheme forced to apologise to every failed genuine claimant for the rest of their lives!

Rant over.

Lydia Cacho

For Spanish readers, this site is highly recommended. If you're not a Spanish reader, you can find her here in Wikipedia.

El PSOE inicia los trámites para expulsar al alcalde de Estepona

MADRID, 17 (EUROPA PRESS) - PSOE headquarters have started the process of expelling the mayor of Estepona, Antonio Barrientos, from the party following indications of his involvement in an alledged corruption scandal over planning applilcations, according to PSOE sources.

Those sources also say if other socialist counsellors are implicated the party will expel them also. Policía Nacional officers are currently searching municipal offices. The mayor arrived at the town hall at 0910 accompanied by officers to carry out a search. The Puertosol building where the planning (counsellor Rafael Duarte, PSOE) and tax (counsellor Francisco Zamorano, PSOE) offices are located are also being searched.

Un mundo pequeño y mentes más así

Whilst out on a scouting trip at an hotel near Cádiz, I discovered this cart. It has come from less than 20 miles from where I used to live for many years.

After the last post I was called by social services to register their disapproval of what I wrote. I was also asked to call the current social worker back to arrange an appointment. The thing is that my wife has had enough of it. She sees that no progress has been made regarding the treatment of the children at school (i.e. blatant racism), and constant stonewalling by the authorities when it comes to doing anything that requires treating foreigners with dignity.

She (my better half) therefore has no wish to see the social worker again, and has forbidden me to call her. I must obey.

Lately I've not been posting much. The main reason has been I've been preoccupied with finding a new job after the current one ends in the summer (no fixed date yet). All the local staff agree that this is probably the best job they've had (or are ever likely to have) in Spain. No Spanish employer would treat their staff so fairly. I know only too well after previous jobs here. It seems highly likely that the next job will involve emigration from Spain.

I've (mostly) enjoyed my time here and have made some good friends in the last six years. For SWMBO it has been unending struggle against racism, obstruction and rudeness.

Rather than rant myself about all the things that went wrong, I shall let SWMBO do it - she's been contacted by the Daily Mail for her story.

¿Qué ha pasado con abril?

A whole month has slipped by without a single post.

The main reason has been our occupation with Suzie, her baptism at the local church, the baptism of a neighbour's baby, that baby's health problems and of course doing battle with the State over our rights.

The last item goes back to our arrival in Spain. We soon discovered that we qualify for familia numerosa which gives not inconsiderable benefits, especially when it comes to taxation. We first applied in 2005 and got the book last summer, after two years of jumping through hoops put there to stop extranjeros applying. So the book arrived just in time for Suzie's birth which meant we had to immediately ask for a re-issue or lose the entitlement. Suzie is now almost nine months old and we're still fighting the Junta. This despite the fact she was born here in Andalucía.

After a useful relationship with Miguel Angel, a genuinely caring social worker who made every effort to help us through the system, he has moved on to another case. The new SW is a complete waste of space. Unhelpful doesn't even cover it. We patiently explained to her that the Junta's position on the familia numerosa is not only unlawful since it goes directly against the European Accession treaty that Spain signed and against the Maastricht and Lisbon treaties, but that the Junta's attitude is institutionally rascist, openly discriminating against EU citizens who are guaranteed equal rights before Spanish law. Her reaction was to side with the Junta, saying that "Spain is a special case and Spaniards have special rights reserved for themselves". Not in social equality they don't. She should re-read the above-mentioned treaties.

We will give her one last chance to break the logjam, then it's off the the press, lawyer and European Commission with the case. I don't think the Spanish government will want to hand back their Social Fund grants to Brussels on top of the 63 million euro they've had to repay to the CAP.

Lo que me fastidia de los españoles

"I will stay only in a country where political liberty, toleration and equality of all citizens before the law are the rule."

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Partido Popular take note.

Casares sigue todavía sin pediatra

This problem surfaced last August.

There are 400 children in Casares. For them there is only one pediatrician, who is shared with Manilva and Sabinillas (probably another 600 children).

In August last year Casares ayuntamiento phoned the Servico Andaluz de Salud (SAS) several times to complain about the lack of a pediatrician in Casares on the days he was supposed to be here. The answer was that there is no locum available for days taken as leave.

In December the pediatrician left his job and has not been replaced, leaving 1000 children with no care. The SAS maintain that cover is supplied by the normal doctor (GP). However, I can reveal that the doctor in Casares was sent a letter last year telling him he cannot treat children and that this instruction has not been cancelled.

On 9th January, the SAS admitted they were trying to address the problem. On the 10th, the health counsellor for the ayuntamiento, Pedro González wrote to the SAS oficially complaining about the lack of cover and the difficulty experienced in contacting anyone in the SAS who would either give an answer or undertaking to supply a pediatrician. On the 16th Don Pedro finally managed to speak to the SAS health director responsible by phone. The director confirmed he had replied to the letter by ordinary mail (takes about 10 days to arrive). On the 23rd the ayuntamiento called an extraordinary public meeting to discuss the problem with the residents.

I received a copy of the inviatation to this meeting the day before, the 22nd. Knowing how institutions hate publicity, I called Canal Sur television and asked if they would send a TV crew to cover the meeting. In the end, I was unable to attend due to work committments. I believe Canal Sur sent a radio reporter to cover the meeting.

Yesterday, the story started to be reported locally by the Spanish press. I am also grateful to the blogger who has also reported on this (because his town suffers the same problem).

I'm sure that the authorities are glad I'm unable to vote in either national or regional elections, because I'd be making a big stink about it. The big parties seem to be either too right wing and authoritarian (PP), or thoroughly corrupt (PSOE and probably all the rest as well). In fact I really hope that the PP doesn't get in, since they want to crack down on inconvienient truths publicised by the blogging community.

Lavapiés olímpico

For those of you not familiar with Spain, Plaza Lavapiés in Madrid occupies the same spot on the Monopoly board as the Old Kent Road.

I wonder if anyone has a similar site for London?

Hugely entertaining in any language. I voted for the "Floor gymnastics with joint".

¡Por qué no te callas!

Humorous video of the Chavez - KJC encounter. KJC gets my vote.

Hace treinte años

I was watching TVE1 last night and they ran a video journal on what was in the news thirty years ago.

1977: King Juan Carlos renounced his dynastic rights over government, Spain's first democratic elections since 1936, the Communist party legalised, etc.

This might explain why this sign is inside the Casares Partida Andalucista offices (underground and well out of sight).

Hechos Probados

A distinct lack of recent blogging by me due to work committments.

Even this news passed me by. Worth a read. Then worth some further thought.

Aerofagia Verbal

This post from Guirilandia is so timely, and very amusing.

I wasn´t sure which Chaves he was referring to, Hugo or Manuel!

Of course, all the electioneering has started here in Casares too. I've decided that I'm going to vote the Spanish way. Since I actually know one of the candidates (I worked with him for a few months in a furniture business in Estepona some years back), I'll vote for him in the very Spanish expectation that this will buy me money / employment / planning consent etc.

¡Viva caciquismo!