A Spanish politician expelled by her party for an expenses scandal has posed naked on the cover of a magazine in which she defends her reputation.
Carmen López was expelled from the Ciudadanos (Citizens) party in October after it emerged she moved to Chicago, USA and was claiming expenses for the 4,000 mile commute back to Seville for council meetings.
Appearing in Intervieú magazine fully nude but strategically preserving her modesty, Ms López defended her actions and insisted she was the victim of a smear campaign, reports The Local.
Explaining how her husband moved to Chicago to be a teacher as he was out of work in Spain, Ms López said she moved “out of absolute necessity”.
“I sent a bureaufax informing the party. They can’t deny that they knew I was moving to Chicago.”
Attempting to justify the hefty travel expense claim, she says she asked to conduct council matters through video conferencing but was denied.
“It left me no choice. The trap was set and I fell into it,” she says reportedly alleging a smear campaign.
Ms López says she has appealed the expulsion and shared the image of the magazine cover on her Facebook page saying “Spain has a right to know and ask the truth”.
She follows in the footsteps of another Ciudadanos party member, Albert Rivera, who posed nude in a campaign poster in 2006.
Ms López is a lawyer and a former Miss Seville beauty queen.
The centrist Ciudadanos party began as a Catalan regional party and has since gained considerable support, levelling with the ruling conservative People's party.
