Political abuse in a time of change

The political situation and the crisis afflicting the country is complicated enough without adding more fuel to the fire. However, there is one phenomenon that has emerged with force, and that is conditioning the political landscape to an almost unsustainable extent: political corruption. Spanish – and to a lesser extent Catalan– politics are experiencing a genuine tsunami of malpractice, which has been building for years and finally struck in 2014. In this issue, we try to make sense of what amounts to an attack on our democratic rights, not to mention our finances.

Spain's governing party is deeply implicated, with a great many of its top officials to be called before the courts. One of the latest examples is the former health minister, Ana Mato, who was forced to quit after being linked with one of the numerous cases of corruption affecting PP. In Catalonia, all eyes are on the Millet and Pujol cases. The latter affects the party governing Catalonia at a highly delicate moment for the country as it negotiates a route towards sovereignty. One thing is robbing the public of its money, but it must not lose the right to decide its future.