Aldama scandal reignites debate on PSOE corruption in Spain

If this isn't the end of the PSOE, what will be?

Víctor de Aldama's statement before the judge has once again put the debate on political corruption in Spain back on the table. The case implicates the Government, Ábalos, Begoña Gómez, and Koldo, reopening the question of whether the PSOE can fall due to a corruption scheme. Given historical precedents, the answer is not simple. The party has survived civil wars, decades of Francoism, and scandals such as those involving Felipe González, the Bárcenas papers, or the ERE case. Some analyses argue that corruption is intrinsic to the party, and its capacity for resistance is almost infinite.

The Aldama case and the declaration lacking conclusive evidence

Víctor de Aldama, an alleged middleman, testified before the judge and named Sánchez, Ábalos, and Koldo, among others. He was released with precautionary measures. However, according to initial reactions, his statement did not provide conclusive proof. Some argue it is merely the word of a incivil who offers no evidence whatsoever. Others contend it is more than just a incivil's word: Begoña's master's degree fraud, the hydrocarbon scam, the alleged commissions by Ábalos, and Delcy's suitcases are not simply "the word of a incivil." The Supreme Court received the proceedings urgently, and the Government denies everything en bloc.

Why doesn't the PSOE fall?

According to available data, the PSOE has not lost a single seat in voting intention between March 2020 and today. Sumar and Podemos have been marginalized, but Sánchez's party holds firm. The resistance manual works. Corruption is undeniable, but the issue lies in scope: anything that does not directly affect Sánchez or the PSOE as an institution implies the Government will not fall. They remain in Moncloa, waiting for the storm to pass. Voters tend to decide based on current events at the time of voting. Who remembers the amnesty now? In three years, the Ábalos affair will be a distant memory.

Media machinery and the narrative

The media barely reports headlines on corruption, moving quickly to the budget law or the DANA crisis. Some say that between the PSOE and its media machine, they will manage to blame Franco for this. Time will tell. According to some voices, the press is killing the messenger: they call Aldama "Little Nicolás" and claim his word is that of a incivil. Totally corrupt press. Much mafia money goes to paying figures infiltrated in the media. It is evident there are many journalists and pundits terrified that the envelope from the socialist party might stop arriving. But they need not worry; the PP will maintain their perks.

The PP and corruption: the Bárcenas papers case

The PP did not fall after yesterday's news, which all TV bulletins covered for 30 seconds or less. The Supreme Court confirms the conviction of the PP as civilly responsible in the Bárcenas papers case. The Incivil Chamber upholds the National Court's ruling convicting Unifica's two administrators, as well as former PP treasurer Luis Bárcenas as a necessary collaborator for facilitating the fraud. How many convictions result from all this? If the PP hasn't fallen, why would the PSOE?

The PSOE as an economic and ideological network

The PSOE is indestructible; more than a party, it is an economic and ideological network dependent on feeding many mouths. It is installed and rooted in our bullfighting blood like cancer with metastasis. Note that the PP is similar, and by extension, any party with significant representation in this country. They will simply clean house and present themselves as regeneration. Their gullible voters will bite the hook again, and it starts over. The only way to get rid of this scourge would be to dismantle the sinister party system we have here, but that is highly improbable given who holds power.

The PSOE is Spain

The PSOE is Spain, as rightly said. It is laziness, envy, petty politics, old Charo with red hair, the onion-headed grandfather killed hundreds of times in the Civil War for being a communist—or so the story goes—it is the civil servant lounging in administration drinking three coffees in the morning, the immigrant living off benefits, the corrupt police officer taking the drug dealer's envelope, the young person who hates the self-employed and calls them snobs because they cannot wake up early and prefer to lie on the beach, mocking the intelligent and elevating the mediocre, picaresque, fraud, theft, plunder. Until society changes, the PSOE will exist forever.

What will happen to the PSOE?

Some of you are naive, sorry to say. The PSOE will not only not sink but will emerge strengthened from this circus. And the country we have is what it is. Whatever Latin Antonio wants to happen will happen, as he is the one hiring the company that handles vote counting and seat distribution. Corruption is undeniable. But the problem is scope. Anything that does not affect Sánchez or the PSOE as such means the Government does not fall. They stay in Moncloa waiting for the storm to pass. Keep in mind that voters tend to decide based on what happens at the moment of voting. In three years (if the term lasts), the Ábalos affair will be a memory. It will affect things, certainly, but not decisively.

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Voices from the forum:

"This is one of the last opportunities we will have: either the PeSOE or Spain, only one of the two will survive."

"The PSOE is a metastatic cancer. It has infiltrated everything."

"The PSOE will never end. The PSOE goes far beyond Pedro Sánchez, a clever man who has taken control of Spain's most powerful entity."