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Barcenas slush fund trial puts spotlight on Spain’s rightwing Popular Party

The trial of a key figure in an illegal funding scandal involving Spain's rightwing Popular Party opened Monday with the defendant pledging a full confession directly implicating the former premier.

Published: 8 February 2021 16:33 CET
Barcenas slush fund trial puts spotlight on Spain's rightwing Popular Party
Spain's former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (left) and Former PP treasurer Luis Barcenas. File photos from 2013: AFP

The case centres on a system of parallel bookkeeping used by the PP to manage undeclared funds that was run by Luis Barcenas, the main suspect, who served as the party treasurer between 1990 and 2009.

Two former PP prime ministers will testify at the high-profile trial which opened on Monday morning at the National Court in Madrid and will run until May.

One is Mariano Rajoy, who served as premier between 2011-2018 and has always denied any knowledge of the system, although Barcenas has testified he was “perfectly aware” of it.

José María Aznar, who was Spain's prime minister between 1996-2004, will also testify alongside various other former top party officials.    

Just days before the trial opened, Barcenas sent a letter to the prosecutors professing his “willingness to collaborate with the justice system” in a dramatic U-turn that has added further drama to a case that has gripped the nation.

In the letter, he said “Mariano Rajoy was perfectly aware of all these activities to the point that in 2009 we had a meeting in his office in which I showed him the slush fund accounting papers”.   


Barcenas in the dock as trail opens on Monday February 8th. Photo: AFP

Rajoy, who at the time was leader of the opposition, then destroyed them “in a paper shredder without knowing I'd kept a copy”, Barcenas wrote.    

The alleged slush fund, which was fed by corporate cash donations, operated between 1990 to 2008 and was used to pay bonuses to party leaders, including Rajoy, as well as for the renovation of the party's Madrid headquarters,
Barcenas has said.

Deal breaker   

Details of the accounts emerged in the so-called “Barcenas papers” which were first published by El Pais newspaper in 2013.   

In his letter, which was published on Thursday, Barcenas said he was now willing to talk after the PP failed to honour a deal in which he would keep silent as long as they ensured his wife did not go to jail.

Barcenas himself is serving a 29-year sentence over the so-called Gürtel case which centred on a vast system of bribes given to former PP officials in exchange for juicy public contracts between 1999 and 2005.

His wife was also convicted for her role in the case and began serving a 12-year sentence in December.

The trial comes at a difficult time for the main opposition Popular Party which is currently campaigning ahead of Sunday's regional election in Catalonia as polls suggest the faction is facing a dismal result.   

Earlier on Monday, PP leader Pablo Casado – who took over in 2018 after Rajoy was forced out as premier and party head – said he could not take responsibility for events that happened before his tenure.

That PP “no longer exists” he told Onda Cero radio.

By AFP's Diego Urdaneta

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POLITICS

What will Spain’s PM do next after resignation threat?

Sánchez's shock threat of resignation after a dubious corruption probe into his wife has kicked off a period of political uncertainty. What card will the Spanish PM play next according to the experts, or is he truly planning to step down?

Published: 26 April 2024 09:59 CEST
What will Spain's PM do next after resignation threat?

Pedro Sánchez, in office since 2018, wrote in a four-page letter posted on social media on Wednesday that he would suspend public duties while he “reflects” on whether he wants to continue leading the government.

The Socialist leader denounced “the seriousness of the attacks” against him and his wife, saying it was part of a campaign of “harassment” waged by the right and far right who “do not accept the election results”.

READ ALSO: Who is Begoña Gómez? Spanish PM’s partner thrust into spotlight

Sánchez, an expert in political survival who has made a career out of taking political gambles, said he would announce his decision on Monday.

Some analysts said he could decide to stay on, with this move aimed at rallying support and regaining the initiative in the face of the right-wing opposition at a time of extreme polarisation in Spanish politics.

“Sánchez is a political animal,” said Oriol Bartomeus, a political scientist at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, adding “he has decided to go on the attack” to try to “change the rules of the debate”.

Paloma Román, a political scientist at Madrid’s Complutense University, said Sánchez had “slammed his fist on the table” as part of a “strategy aimed at putting the spotlight where he wants it”.

Sánchez could file a confidence motion in parliament to show that he and his minority government are still supported by a majority of lawmakers in parliament.

Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, whose JxCat party is an unpredictable ally of the government, has urged Sánchez to pick this option.

READ ALSO: What happens and who takes over if Spain’s Prime Minister resigns?

For the confidence motion to succeed, Sánchez would just need the backing of a simple majority in the assembly and most of the parties which prop up his minority government have already shown their unconditional support.

Catalan separatist party ERC said it would vote in favour of a confidence motion while hard-left party Podemos, which has clashed with Sánchez in the past, blasted attacks by “the political, media and judicial right” on the prime minister and the left in general.

While the conservative opposition has accused Sánchez of playing the victim to rally support, analysts said the possibility that he will resign cannot be completely ruled out.

“Sánchez’s closest advisers and the leadership of the Socialist party will probably spend the coming days trying to convince him to stay,” said Teneo analyst Antonio Barroso.

“The fact that the prime minister allegedly did not consult any of his advisers when drafting the letter suggests personal reasons might be his main motivation. This makes Sánchez’s decision particularly hard to predict.”

If Sánchez does step down, the Socialist party could propose that parliament appoint someone else as head of the government, with Budget Minister María Jesús Montero, who also serves as deputy prime minister, touted as a likely contender.

But Barroso said it “would probably be hard for Montero to cobble together a majority” in Spain’s highly fractured parliament.

Sánchez could instead resign and call snap elections but he would not be able to do so before May 29 since a year must pass between consecutive dissolutions of parliament.

With the Socialists trailing the main opposition conservative Popular Party in opinion polls, this is a risky strategy, although analysts said Sánchez may bet that leftist voters will be galvanised by the controversy sparked by his resignation.

READ ALSO: Spanish prosecutors question credibility of corruption probe against PM’s wife

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