Correos in crisis: three weeks without mail deliveries and a political probe

Correos can't cope: three weeks without deliveries and a political investigation in the background

Why is it getting harder and harder for Correos, Spain's postal service, to deliver a parcel? Testimonials from those affected paint a picture of a collapsed service: deliveries that never arrive, postmen covering three neighbourhoods and offices with only two counters open. Meanwhile, the UCO (Spain's Civil Guard central investigation unit) is looking into Juanma Serrano, Sánchez's former chief of staff, for allegedly dismantling the state-owned company to divert funds to the president's «fixer».

The debate over the postal service is nothing new, but it has reached unusual heights. Customers report waits of up to three weeks without receiving mail, with office responses limited to a «the postman is on holiday». Others point out that letters take months to arrive because a single employee has to cover several neighbourhoods. The situation is especially serious for the self-employed, who cannot collect parcels in the morning because offices close at 14:30 and do not open on Saturdays. A citizens' petition, backed by FACUA (a Spanish consumer rights group), calls for the restoration of continuous opening hours and Saturday service, but it runs up against the reality of a shrinking workforce.

The shadow of corruption over Correos

Behind the operational collapse looms a political scandal. The Unidad Central Operativa (UCO), the Civil Guard's investigative unit, has implicated Juanma Serrano, Pedro Sánchez's former chief of staff, in a scheme to neutralise legal cases against the president using Correos funds. Serrano, who according to judicial sources allegedly orchestrated the dismantling of the company, is being investigated for embezzlement. The connection between the postal crisis and political corruption adds an even darker layer to a service many have already written off.

Meanwhile, the postman is still on holiday. And the question hanging in the air is whether Correos can be fixed, or whether it is just another piece on the board of institutional decline.