I had a dream...

IT is quite easy to forget that democracy only came to Spain in 1975 and alot of people in this country worked long and hard to achieve this goal. But Spain´s political system has been marred by the large number of cases of political corruption leaving those who fought so hard for democracy in the early years feeling rather disheartened and calling for change. One Spaniard told me yesterday that if politicians returned all the money which they had (allegedly) stolen then the country would be out of recession. It must be remembered that the anti-corruption Task Force which was set-up in the Balearics by the judiciary has reclaimed almost 50 million euros. And this is only in the Balearics. I think you can safely say that many millions of euros have simply "disappeared" in Spain over the years. Spain needs to clean up its act and in the Balearics, at the moment, this is certainly the case. The anti-corruption task force appears to be working and politicians, accused of wrongdoing, are being brought to justice. But there is still public discontent. The same drive which was needed to bring democracy to this country is now needed to clear it of alleged political corruption. The billions of euros which flowed through the economy thanks to the property boom four years ago will probably never return again but Spain must leave this recession with a clear pledge that these cases of political corruption can never happen again. A few rotten apples is one thing, but a barrel full is something else. Spain has achieved plenty since 1975 but there are still lessons to be relearnt.