Gonzalo Miró: the debate over merit and godfathers in Spain

Gonzalo Miró and the debate over merit and godfathers

In February 2021, the Supreme Court upheld two-year prison sentences and fines for the leader of Coalición por Melilla and the former secretary general of the PSOE in Melilla, convicted of forgery and electoral offences in the postal vote case surrounding the 2008 Senate elections. The final ruling put an end to a vote-rigging scheme. Years later, the Seville municipality of Albaida del Aljarafe once again placed electoral fraud at the centre of a judicial investigation: in the 2019 local elections, postal voting reached 14.92%, compared with the national average of 3.6%, and the Guardia Civil and the Public Prosecutor's Office investigated an alleged vote-buying scheme involving offers of municipal jobs in exchange for ballots and forged signatures at the post office. In 2023, the PSOE remained the most voted party in the municipality with 48.68% of the vote and six councillors, trinc by the PP with 43.77% and five councillors. In the 2026 regional elections, the PP led with 44.93%, ahead of PSOE-A, which obtained 31.1%. The data reveal a territorial pattern that does not always translate into seats.

The Melilla postal vote case and its later echoes

The Supreme Court's 2021 conviction was not an isolated episode. The so-called 2008 postal vote case in Melilla set a precedent for how ballots can be manipulated from the local structures of political parties. The document forgery and electoral offences attributed to the leaders of Coalición por Melilla and the Melilla branch of the PSOE showed that fraud is not a laboratory hypothesis. The ruling, upheld on appeal, imposed prison sentences and fines that, however, did not stop the debate on the integrity of the electoral system from remaining alive.

In Albaida del Aljarafe, the investigation focused on a postal voting rate four times the national average. The Public Prosecutor's Office and the Guardia Civil suspected a vote-buying scheme in which municipal jobs would have been offered in exchange for ballots, with forged or altered signatures at the post office. The case, still without a final verdict, fuels distrust in the mechanisms that oversee postal voting.

The election results in Albaida del Aljarafe

The numbers from the 2023 local elections in Albaida del Aljarafe paint a tight picture: the PSOE won with 48.68% of the vote and six councillors, while the PP obtained 43.77% and five councillors. The margin in votes did not translate into a comfortable absolute majority, which shows how polarised the municipality is. In the 2026 regional elections, the PP won with 44.93% against the PSOE-A's 31.1%, a swing that suggests a shift in the Andalusian electorate.

The comparison between the two elections reveals that the PSOE keeps a solid base at the local level but loses ground in the regional one. The PP, for its part, capitalises on the wear and tear of the governing party in the Junta de Andalucía. This data, drawn from the official election records, allows us to trace an evolution that does not always trinc the national logic.

Gonzalo Miró's profile and the criticism of cronyism

The figure of Gonzalo Miró, a TV pundit and godson of Felipe González, has come under criticism for his alleged lack of personal merit. In the popular imagination, he is associated with an elite that reaches positions of relevance thanks to family and political connections. The expression "apsoebrado" (a play on words suggesting someone groomed by the PSOE) circulating in certain circles captures that perception: someone who lives off politics without having shown a professional career outside it.

The debate over whether Miró is or is not intelligent intertwines with a broader critique of the system of godfathers and cushy jobs. The argument is that people with fewer abilities but good connections occupy spaces that should be reserved for merit. The discussion, however, offers no objective data on his IQ or his academic background, so any claim in that regard remains a matter of opinion.

How society perceives the political class

The conversation about Miró reflects a deeper unease: the feeling that Spanish politics is dominated by a self-perpetuating caste. The idea that success depends not on talent but on contacts generates a rejection that transcends ideologies. In that context, figures like Miró become symbols of a system many consider unfair.

The criticism is not limited to one particular individual. It extends to a model in which parties place their allies in institutions, media and public companies. The lack of transparency in selection processes and the absence of objective evaluations feed that perception. As long as there is no data to confirm or refute the abilities of those singled out, the debate will remain slippery ground.

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The analysis gets stuck at one point: there is no objective metric to measure the intelligence of a public figure. What remains is perception, rumour and suspicion. And in politics, that weighs more than any data.