By Mark Nayler<\/p>\n
If there is a threat to democracy in Spain, it\u2019s not from the \u201cfar right,\u201d that mysterious force to which Socialist prime minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez wants to attribute all the country\u2019s problems. Recent developments have highlighted two issues that are causing much more damage to public trust in democratic institutions\u2014namely, the politicization of the judiciary, or \u201clawfare,\u201d and financial\u00a0corruption<\/a>. Lawfare is alleged to be the reason for an unprecedented ruling against Spain\u2019s former attorney general; while a massive\u00a0fraud case<\/a>\u00a0centered on 95-year-old Jordi Pujol, president of Catalonia from 1980 to 2003, has tarnished the reputation of a once-revered politician.<\/p>\n At the end of last month, Spain\u2019s attorney general \u00c1lvaro Garc\u00eda Ortiz\u00a0resigned<\/a>\u00a0after the Supreme Court found him guilty of leaking details of a tax probe into the romantic partner of Isabel Diaz Ayuso, the Conservative president of Madrid. Ayuso has established herself as S\u00e1nchez\u2019s most formidable critic, and\u00a0claims<\/a>\u00a0that the investigation into her boyfriend Alberto Gonz\u00e1lez Amador is an attempt to push her out of power. As she said last March: \u201cThe most suspicious thing, the most murky thing, is to see all the powers of the state leaking data about an individual\u2026 to try to destroy a politician.\u201d<\/p>\n Amador, a businessman, is charged with defrauding the tax office of around \u20ac350,000 ($408,000) earned on face mask contracts during the pandemic. Last March, Spanish media reported that his defense team had asked for a plea bargain, before it was officially announced by the Prosecutor\u2019s Office. According to the deal, Amador would admit to tax fraud in order to avoid a trial and potentially prison. The seven-judge panel at the Supreme Court\u2014comprising five judges considered conservative and two \u201cprogressive\u201d\u2014identified Ortiz as the leaker, although several journalists testified that he had not been their source. It announced its verdict quickly, even before publishing the legal rationale on which it was based. Leftist Podemos, formerly a member of S\u00e1nchez\u2019s coalition, called it a \u201cjudicial coup<\/a>\u201d\u2014proof that the tribunal had \u201ctaken another step in its subversive escalation.\u201d<\/p>\n Ayuso\u2019s mortal enemy must empathize with her on some level. S\u00e1nchez, who nominated Ortiz for attorney general in 2022, also claims that the judiciary is out to get him. It was confirmed in September that his wife Bego\u00f1a Gomez will face a jury trial over charges of corruption and influence-peddling, even though the evidence seems thin. The case against S\u00e1nchez\u2019s brother David, who is accused of holding a state position created especially for him, will also go to court. Even more damagingly for the Socialist leader, several former members of his government are under investigation for taking kickbacks on face mask contracts during the pandemic; one of them, ex-transport minister Jos\u00e9 Luis \u00c1balos, was recently\u00a0sent<\/a>\u00a0into pre-trial custody (the government\u2019s enthusiasm for face masks, the efficacy of which was always questionable, now makes a lot more sense). S\u00e1nchez portrays all this as a smear campaign designed to topple his government. If both he\u00a0and\u00a0Ayuso are right, though, judicial bias goes both ways. Spain\u2019s top judges might be corrupt, but at least they\u2019re dishing out punishment to both the left and right.<\/p>\n Catalan separatists have also claimed to be victims of a politicized judiciary. For Pujol\u2019s supporters, the fraud allegations against him and his family represent another attempt by the establishment to discredit the secessionist cause\u2014but the years of investigation already carried out, plus Pujol\u2019s own admissions, suggest that there\u2019s real substance to them. Pujol\u2019s plight is similar to that of 87-year-old Juan Carlos, Spain\u2019s former king. Both were key figures in the transition to democracy after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, Pujol by championing Catalonia\u2019s language and culture after decades of repression, Juan Carlos for guiding the country back to constitutional monarchy. But in their dotage both men have been dogged by allegations of corruption. (Juan Carlos fled Spain in August 2020 amidst suspicion of multimillion-euro fraud, but all the charges were dropped two years later.)<\/p>\n