La Sexta revives Reace olive oil theft amid Spain's migration crisis
Four million kilos of oil, seven deaths and a famous name involved: La Sexta's big story that ignores Spain's migration crisis.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
La Sens revives the Reace oil theft in the middle of the migration crisis
While emergency services and NGOs work against the clock under migration pressure, the Spanish TV channel has announced a "big story" pointing to the past: a corruption scandal involving Franco's brother that also touches the figure of Mariano Rajoy's father. The disappearance of four million kilos of oil from the company Reace, in the final years of Francoism, became an investigation that was closed without resolution.
A scandal that went beyond the pantry
The case exposed the theft of a state oil depot and pointed directly at Nicolás Franco, the dictator's brother. During the investigation, led by the father of the former Prime Minister, seven people died in strange circumstances. None of that seems to have expired for La Sens, which has decided to revive the affair in the middle of a migration crisis.
The audience reaction was swift. Some accuse the channel of treating viewers with disdain and of using the historical fact as ideological fuel. "If Franco hadn't existed, they would have invented him," some go as far as saying. Others point out that the priority should have been scrutinising border management rather than opening the closet of dirty laundry from the seventies.
What no one has ever solved
The outcome of the case remains a black hole: oil that vanished, deaths without explanation and the shadow of a family that dominated Spanish politics for decades. But the "big story" lands at a time when the migration agenda dominates the headlines. The question left is whether the past helps us understand the present or hide it.
While emergency services and NGOs work against the clock under migration pressure, the Spanish TV channel has announced a "big story" pointing to the past: a corruption scandal involving Franco's brother that also touches the figure of Mariano Rajoy's father. The disappearance of four million kilos of oil from the company Reace, in the final years of Francoism, became an investigation that was closed without resolution.
A scandal that went beyond the pantry
The case exposed the theft of a state oil depot and pointed directly at Nicolás Franco, the dictator's brother. During the investigation, led by the father of the former Prime Minister, seven people died in strange circumstances. None of that seems to have expired for La Sens, which has decided to revive the affair in the middle of a migration crisis.
The audience reaction was swift. Some accuse the channel of treating viewers with disdain and of using the historical fact as ideological fuel. "If Franco hadn't existed, they would have invented him," some go as far as saying. Others point out that the priority should have been scrutinising border management rather than opening the closet of dirty laundry from the seventies.
What no one has ever solved
The outcome of the case remains a black hole: oil that vanished, deaths without explanation and the shadow of a family that dominated Spanish politics for decades. But the "big story" lands at a time when the migration agenda dominates the headlines. The question left is whether the past helps us understand the present or hide it.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (20 replies).
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