How to place a disqualified relative without a public contest
Foundations, NGOs, public companies and disability benefits are the routes for placing a disqualified relative without a competitive exam. An unwritten manual of Spanish cronyism.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
The cronyism manual: how to place a disqualified relative without a competitive exam
A ban from public office closes the door of the administration, but leaves many windows open. When a direct relative cannot apply for a position because of a court ruling, the ingenuity of public managers knows no bounds: NGOs living off public contracts, semi-public companies, foundations with no oversight and even acquired disability status. The catalogue is as varied as it is brazen.
The foundations and NGOs route
A foundation created by the party or a close associate can absorb the affected person with a salary awarded without any competitive process. Then, the entity receives direct awards from the very people who created it: maintenance, gardening, gender-violence awareness programmes, catering. The festival of democracy — in the words of one analyst — is inexhaustible. The advantage is that it escapes civil service controls.
Public companies and friendly media
Another recurring option is a well-paid post at a public company such as Indra, or a programme on the state broadcaster or a friendly outlet. Salaries of up to 250,000 euros a year for artistic work that does not even require showing up. The contractual relationship is dressed up as creativity and paid for with institutional advertising.
The disability route or jurisdictional escape
The most cynical route: applying for a disability pension which, with the right contacts, is granted in record time. Or the international escape hatch: placing the relative in an organisation outside Spanish jurisdiction, where the local conviction does not reach. Online classes for a non-existent master's degree or a post at a radical herriko taberna (Basque nationalist bar) complete the picture.
With these mechanisms, a disqualification conviction is more of an inconvenience than a veto. The question is how long these escape valves can keep working before the system plugs them. But while the party lasts, imagination never runs dry.
A ban from public office closes the door of the administration, but leaves many windows open. When a direct relative cannot apply for a position because of a court ruling, the ingenuity of public managers knows no bounds: NGOs living off public contracts, semi-public companies, foundations with no oversight and even acquired disability status. The catalogue is as varied as it is brazen.
The foundations and NGOs route
A foundation created by the party or a close associate can absorb the affected person with a salary awarded without any competitive process. Then, the entity receives direct awards from the very people who created it: maintenance, gardening, gender-violence awareness programmes, catering. The festival of democracy — in the words of one analyst — is inexhaustible. The advantage is that it escapes civil service controls.
Public companies and friendly media
Another recurring option is a well-paid post at a public company such as Indra, or a programme on the state broadcaster or a friendly outlet. Salaries of up to 250,000 euros a year for artistic work that does not even require showing up. The contractual relationship is dressed up as creativity and paid for with institutional advertising.
The disability route or jurisdictional escape
The most cynical route: applying for a disability pension which, with the right contacts, is granted in record time. Or the international escape hatch: placing the relative in an organisation outside Spanish jurisdiction, where the local conviction does not reach. Online classes for a non-existent master's degree or a post at a radical herriko taberna (Basque nationalist bar) complete the picture.
With these mechanisms, a disqualification conviction is more of an inconvenience than a veto. The question is how long these escape valves can keep working before the system plugs them. But while the party lasts, imagination never runs dry.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (26 replies).
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