Corruption at national level

Some would say that corruption can now be considered endemic in Spanish local politics. Week by week new cases are brought to light, investigated and eventually taken to court.

However, the current investigation into the relationship between the PP party and promotional companies such as Orange Market takes investigations into corruption to a national level.

Judge Baltasar Garzón wants to transfer the investigation into the “Gürtel”case to the Tribunales Superiores de Justicia de Valencia and Madrid, after finding implications that several in public positions with special legal protection could be involved. Among them are Francisco Camps, president of the Valencian Community; his number two, Ricardo Costa, Secretary General of the PP in Valencia along with Alberto López Viejo, Alfonso Bosch and Benjamín Martín Vasco of the PP.

More than three million Euros in illegal commissions

The magistrate of the National Hearing has also extended the imputations in this case to six other people from the PP: the mayors of the Madrilenian localities of Arganda del Rey and Pozuelo de Alarcón, Ginés López and Jesús Sepúlveda; Tomás Martín Moral, Clemente Aguado, José Galeote(ex- councilman of Boadilla) and Ricardo Galeote (ex- councilman of Estepona, Malaga.

The judge says that the new ones who are imputed in the Gürtel operation would have received more than three million Euros worth of commissions in exchange for awarding contracts to the companies of the presumed ringleader of the plot, Francisco Correa. In addition, he adds that the three deputies of the PP of the Assembly of Madrid (Alberto López Viejo, Benjamín Martín Vasco and Alfonso Bosch Tejedor) could have received 1.2 million Euros from the companies of Correa.

Besides Camps and to his number two, the judge has implicated the ex- secretary of Organisation of the PP in Valencia ,José Víctor Campos Guino and the head of the Cabinet of the Council of Tourism, Rafael Betoret Parreño.

“Fixed Commissions”

The judge maintains that the PP of Valencia received 420,700 Euros in commissions from Francisco Correa. He also affirms that the president of Orange Market, Alvaro Pérez, 'el Bigotes', paid Francisco Camps the sum of 12,783 Euros in return for of awarding concessions to the company.

Shortly after hearing the public decision by the judge, the PP expressed their “total confidence” in Camps and the others who have been implicated. They consider the action of Garzón is out of proportion.