Just when Spain’s opposition People’s party thought it had the socialist government of Pedro Sánchez on the ropes over a series of corruption scandals, it has been hit by a controversy of its own over alleged trafficking of influences by Cristóbal Montoro, the former finance minister.
It is alleged that Montoro established the “economic team”, a lawyer’s office linked to the finance ministry, which took kickbacks from gas and other energy companies in return for favourable government policy. It is claimed that between 2008 and 2015 Montoro and 27 other accused, among them senior treasury officials, were paid at least €11m (£9.5m) by big energy companies.
According to the police investigation led by the judge Rubén Rus, “the economic team received large commissions in return for its capacity to influence legislative and executive powers” under the government of the then prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, adding that “the office was merely a vehicle to access the finance ministry”.
In his report the judge commented that gas companies “tried to influence legislation in accordance with their interests by using various lobbies but without success” and were only successful when the go-between was Montoro’s economic team.
“Within a short period of time and for no apparent reason they obtained the desired legislative reforms,” principally in the form of lower tax liabilities, it concluded.
It is also alleged that Montoro personally accessed the confidential tax records of political rivals in his own party, among them Esperanza Aguirre, the former president of Madrid, as well as several journalists and celebrities, including the tennis star Rafael Nadal, the art collector and socialite Carmen Thyssen and Jordi Pujol Ferrusola, the son of the former Catalan president Jordi Pujol, who was under investigation for corruption.
It is said that Rajoy was warned about Montoro’s activities but no action was taken.
Montoro resigned from the PP on Thursday and issued a statement saying “there is no proof of any of the accusations”.
The allegations are a blow to the strategy of the PP leader, Alberto Feijóo, which has consisted of a relentless attack on Sánchez whose party is being investigated over a series of corruption charges.
Feijóo said the revelations did not change his view that corruption must be rooted out, whoever is involved. “What needs to be investigated must be investigated,” he said.
Pablo Simón, a political scientist at the Universidad Carlos III in Madrid, said: “This gives Sánchez a breathing space but it’s not the end of it as more is likely to emerge from the judicial investigations. This levels the playing field and it’s also a blow to Feijóo’s strategy as it puts him on the defensive.”
Simón said the latest scandal would reinforce the view of many voters that Spain’s political parties, both left and right, were irredeemably corrupt. The only beneficiaries, he said, would be the far-right Vox party which, having never been in power, could claim to have clean hands.
“It’s analogous to what happened in Portugal after the scandals involving the socialist and then the conservative governments which benefited the far-right party there,” Simón said.
