There’s a bit of a paradox about living in Spain. On the one hand, it seems to be rare for a private individual to get involved in day-today corruption. By which I mean bribing some bureaucrat to accelerate one process or another. Or even paying a Telefonica engineer to install a phone line in your rural retreat before the end of time. On the other hand, scarcely a day passes without newspaper headlines of yet another major political or commercial scandal. So it’s hardly surprising, I guess, that a large percentage of the Spanish believe there’s corruption in a wide range of the country’s institutions. Specifically, in a recent multi-country survey, they rated each of the following as either very or quite corrupt, starting with the worst:-
Political parties
Private companies
The communications media
Parliament
The judicial system
The tax authorities
Religious organisations[!]
The police
Not-for-profit organisations
The educational system
Social service organisations.

Personally, I suspect this is a pessimistic overview, especially as the Spanish are more cynical about their institutions than in most other countries. But perhaps it reflects a realistic acceptance of and resignation towards what certainly goes on around and above them. The real irony is that, while 51% of them think things are getting worse, 42% believe the police are doing a good job in tackling corruption. Mind you, one sometimes gets the impression it might be like shooting fish in a barrel. Especially when it comes to local politicians and planning approvals. For an example, just click here for details of a nice little, ‘multi-discipline’ scam up the Galician coast.

Talking of corrupt organisations, this week sees the signing in Lisbon of the EU Constitution that was rejected by the French and the Dutch a couple of years ago. This time round they haven’t been asked for an opinion on the grounds that the document has magically – and conveniently – transmogrified into a ‘non-consultative treaty’. There’s been an all-party campaign in the UK for a referendum but this has come to naught. “It would appear” says one columnist this morning “that while the British do not much like being sucked into a European super-state, there is no expectation that the process can be stopped. This attitude might have its origins in the rise of a shallow, consumerist society in which matters of substance are simply shrugged away. Or is there more to it than that? Is it not that voters know they have been lied to in the past about Europe so many times that they have concluded reluctantly that resistance is futile?” Very probably so. As shown by the voting numbers, there’s a lot more apathy around in Britain these days. One might say the Brits have converged towards the Continental view that all politicians are corrupt and only in it for themselves and their cronies. And that there’s not much that can be done about this natural order of things. Roll on Europa. Or is it backwards?

If you’ve found this post a bit heavy, I recommend yesterday’s for lighter reading . . .