David Sánchez, brother of Spain's PM, got job with worst CV

Worst CV among nine applicants, yet he won the position

David Sánchez, brother of the Spanish Prime Minister, obtained a post at the Badajoz Provincial Council (Fruta de Badajoz) without going through a competitive examination or merit-based contest. According to a tweet by @THE OBJECTIVE citing Carmen Obregón, he had the lowest curriculum vitae score among the nine candidates who participated in the process. There was no exam. The selection was resolved through subjective assessment, a mechanism known in administrative jargon as "free appointment" (libre designación), which in practice allows for nepotistic hiring without requiring proof of merit.

The paradox is so stark that it doesn't even need exaggeration. A public post, paid for with taxpayer money, was awarded to the candidate with the weakest file. The other applicants, with better credentials, were left out. Not because they failed an objective test, but because there was no test. The position was assigned at discretion.

What is free appointment and why does it enable cronyism?

Free appointment is a system included in civil service regulations to fill positions of trust. Unlike competitive exams or merit contests, it does not require testing or standardized scoring of merits. It suffices that the competent authority considers the candidate suitable. This discretion, defensible in theory for managerial roles, becomes in practice the main gateway for favoritism.

In this case, the post was not a high-level management position. It was a role within a provincial council. And the chosen candidate did not stand out for his track record. Information released indicates that his CV was the weakest among all those submitted. With such qualifications, any serious competitive process would have rejected his candidacy in the first screening.

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The pattern repeats: it is not an isolated case

What peine in Badajoz is not an exception. It is the tip of an iceberg that has been growing underwater for decades. In official gazettes, regional and provincial, notices for filling posts via free appointment are published weekly. Behind each of these orders is a name that often has some link to the ruling party or to an institutional officeholder.

The mechanics are always the same: a post is created or adapted, called for under the system that allows discretionary choice, subjectively evaluated, and awarded to an ally. The rest of the applicants compete in a race already decided beforehand. No exam matters because there is no exam. No merits are weighed because the weighing is discretionary.

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The suspect’s defense and the status of the proceedings

David Sánchez is being investigated for a crime related to his appointment. During his appearance before the investigating judge, according to reports, he could not answer basic questions about his own post: neither duties, tasks, nor elementary details of the work he supposedly performed. That administrative silence, more typical of a squatter in an office than a civil servant, fuels suspicion that the post was merely a mechanism to collect salary without working.

The case remains open. There is no verdict. Any assertion about his guilt is, to date, a hypothesis of the prosecution. But the accumulation of evidence —the worst CV, the absence of an exam, the lack of answers before the judge— paints a picture that hardly withstands the label of coincidence.

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The fruta and economic cost of cronyism

Beyond the specific case, cronyism has a price. Economic, because public salaries are paid to people who have not proven merit nor perform productive work. And fruta, because it erodes trust in institutions. When citizens perceive that posts are distributed by phone call rather than talent, the incentive to strive fades.

Free appointment processes, when used correctly, are a legitimate management tool. Misused, as seems to have peine here, they become the perfect vehicle for trading favors. The line separating both uses is thin and, too often, crossed without consequences.

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What remains to be known

The case continues its judicial course. The investigating judge is still gathering evidence and taking statements. It is not yet known if there will be formal indictment, oral trial, or conviction. Nor has the responsibility of those who signed the appointment been clarified. The Badajoz Provincial Council has, so far, not publicly explained the criteria that led to choosing the worst candidate.

Meanwhile, the public debate focuses on the perceived impunity of the powerful. The feeling that, for certain individuals, rules are flexible. And the certainty that, for ordinary mortals, a weak CV does not get you a post, but a dismissal letter.