Gürtel case (Spain, 2009 - not ended yet)

Abstract

This major scandal broke out in February 2009 in Spain and has seriously affected one of the country’s two major political parties, the conservative Partido Popular (PP). Its name derives from the police operation launched in 2007 to investigate a complaint filed by the then councillor for urban planning of the town council of Majadahonda, a residential municipality very close to the city of Madrid, against a businessman named Francisco Correa (Gürtel in German).

This scandal, like many others that have followed in the course of more than 40 years of democratic rule, demonstrates the excessive level of politicisation of public administrations in Spain and the need to reinforce their professionalisation.