Monday, September 24, 2007

(More) Reasons To Be A Republican

The newspaper El País managed to put its commercial interests to one side this morning and led with an alarming article on the spread of construction related corruption on the Costa del Sol. The report quotes one prosecutor as saying that the situation in Cádiz province is "out of control", with corrupt authorities working hand in hand with money launderers to build over the few remaining sections of untouched coastline. Nobody can tell us how many other Marbella type scandals are occurring.

If only we could rely on the judicial system to do something about this massive corruption. Perhaps one of the "star" judges of the Audiencia Nacional could get to grips with it?. Unfortunately, they all seem occupied with much more urgent matters. Take the case of judge Fernando Grande-Marlaska, for example. Today this judge has found himself with nothing better to do than try and track down every single person connected with the burning of a photocopied image of a hereditary monarch.

What further arguments do we need in favour of a republic? Take away the king and the judges have one less excuse for wasting police time on seizing magazines and hunting down demonstrators. Which is not to say they will start dealing with the web of corruption on the Mediterranean, but it does give them more time should they ever feel the urge to do something about it.

4 comments:

Spinne said...

Dear Graeme

This people are not only republican; worse than that they are CATALANS!!! [mode ironic on]Everybody in Spain knows that we the Catalans are the most dangerous people you could find except for the Basques and we have no other purspose in our lifes than destroy Spain ^mode ironic off]

here you have a possible explanation for it all: Keep the people entertained with the "Spain is Breaking" song and they will not think in anything else, (Corruption, crisis, whatever....)

Judge Grande-Marlaska looks to me as one of this persons who hate any nacionalism except is their's. Exactly the same than PP does.

Graeme said...

Indeed, dangerous people who speak in strange tongues. There are lots of them too, so there's no alternative - more prisons will have to be built.

Anonymous said...

A system where the judiciary can be perceived to be politcised to this extent is not a system where dialogue can be fostered to end conflict.

The actions of these jusdges seem to play a PP and Spanish nationalist agenda. Why do they get away with spending so much time going after Basques and Catalans on issues that would be seen as matters of equality and freedom of expression elsewhwere?

Tom said...

This is the same guy who let off the PP department of defence from any culpability in the Yak-42 incident, despite an obvious failure on their part to provide adequate transportation for Spanish soldiers. He was also involved in the prosecution of the El Jueves cartoonist.

I find the position of the royals here really bizarre. Firstly, we're repeatedly told that the king 'saved Spain' by not accepting Tejero's offer of power (when all he did was not break the constitution). Then you speak to a Spanish journalist and discover that NOTHING about the royal family is ever reported, despite copious amounts of scandalous evidence concerning their behaviour.

Now they're protected from having their photo burned. I imagine that by this precedent, the possession of a republican flag or Estelada is technically illegal, given that it too is an insult to the supreme head of state...