Mediator Case: Parties, Bribes, and Congress as a Lure
The Civil Guard implicates deputy Juan Bernardo Fuentes in using Congress to entertain businessmen in the Mediator case, with the Canary Islands and Ábalos in the spotlight.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Mediator Case: From Congress to the Sens Club for 3,500 euros
A bill for 3,500 euros sets the price for the scheme. That was, according to published reports, the fee for a night out in Madrid: a visit to the Congress of Deputies, dinner, and a nightcap at a sens club. At the center of it all was the socialist deputy from the Canary Islands Juan Bernardo Fuentes, nicknamed Tito Berni in the case files, whom the Civil Guard places as using the Lower House as a showcase to entertain businessmen. The Mediator case had all the ingredients of a soap opera: cocaine, sens clubs, and contracts. At this point, it would be strange if it didn't.
What the Civil Guard is investigating in the Mediator case
The core of the investigation is an alleged system of bribes. The armed institute points out that the deputy allegedly used his seat to introduce businessmen into the public contracts circuit, with nights of leisure as the currency and Congress itself as the lure. Some of these evenings took place outside the hemicycle but started inside: the institutional visit was the hook, and others paid the bill.
Some argue this is merely an isolated episode of a deputy with self-control issues. Countering this is an uncomfortable detail: the Police concluded that the deputy dissolved his company during the investigation and doubled the income of his consultancy after arriving at Congress. The timeline does not support the theory of a one-off slip-up.
The other branches: Canary Islands and two more senior officials
The matter did not stop with one person. The investigation placed two other senior officials from the Government of the Canary Islands close to the scheme. One of the names that appears is José Domingo Fernández Herrera, a veteran socialist official and head of the Fight Against Climate Change in the archipelago, with an annual salary of 65,053.77 euros. The Police had suspected the existence of "other political officials" involved since July, according to the reports handled by the investigation.
Geography matters. The Canary Islands concentrate a large part of the business—contracts, public works, emergencies—and several sources suggest the islands functioned as the operations center. Everything originated there, from a network of consultancies and commissions that, on paper, should not sustain any regional government.
Ábalos, masks, and the lead candidates
As the investigation pogre, the ramifications extended to Madrid. The scheme's fixer allegedly claimed that the then-minister Ábalos gave orders and decided on the purchase of masks in the Canary Islands, a detail he denies and which remains in judicial dispute. Other published reports linked three PSOE lead candidates to parties with prostitutes, an aspect that is part of the investigations but has not been proven in court.
Order is important. All of the above is in the investigation phase: indictments, police reports, and leaks, not sentences. In such cases, the distance between the headline and a conviction is often measured in years.
How has the Mediator case ended?
Badly, if measured by the outcome. The deputy resigned his seat and his position, but there is no news of a trial. The case remains bogged down in the investigative courts of the Canary Islands, with protected witnesses changing their statements and evidence slipping away. The fixer was, according to the latest available data, negotiating a deal with the Prosecutor's Office to reduce his sentence in exchange for collaboration. The noise was enormous; the consequences, for now, discreet.
Some will remember the double standard. When the scandal was fresh, the PSOE encouraged its deputies to file lawsuits against anyone linking them to prostitution; days later, it expelled a socialist for appearing in photos from those parties. Coherence, in politics, is a scarce commodity and is quickly devalued.
Three years later, the case file remains in a Canary Islands court, the seat is empty, and almost no one has had to explain themselves before a tribunal. How long does a scandal take to die in Spain when no one pushes for it to be revived?
A bill for 3,500 euros sets the price for the scheme. That was, according to published reports, the fee for a night out in Madrid: a visit to the Congress of Deputies, dinner, and a nightcap at a sens club. At the center of it all was the socialist deputy from the Canary Islands Juan Bernardo Fuentes, nicknamed Tito Berni in the case files, whom the Civil Guard places as using the Lower House as a showcase to entertain businessmen. The Mediator case had all the ingredients of a soap opera: cocaine, sens clubs, and contracts. At this point, it would be strange if it didn't.
What the Civil Guard is investigating in the Mediator case
The core of the investigation is an alleged system of bribes. The armed institute points out that the deputy allegedly used his seat to introduce businessmen into the public contracts circuit, with nights of leisure as the currency and Congress itself as the lure. Some of these evenings took place outside the hemicycle but started inside: the institutional visit was the hook, and others paid the bill.
Some argue this is merely an isolated episode of a deputy with self-control issues. Countering this is an uncomfortable detail: the Police concluded that the deputy dissolved his company during the investigation and doubled the income of his consultancy after arriving at Congress. The timeline does not support the theory of a one-off slip-up.
The other branches: Canary Islands and two more senior officials
The matter did not stop with one person. The investigation placed two other senior officials from the Government of the Canary Islands close to the scheme. One of the names that appears is José Domingo Fernández Herrera, a veteran socialist official and head of the Fight Against Climate Change in the archipelago, with an annual salary of 65,053.77 euros. The Police had suspected the existence of "other political officials" involved since July, according to the reports handled by the investigation.
Geography matters. The Canary Islands concentrate a large part of the business—contracts, public works, emergencies—and several sources suggest the islands functioned as the operations center. Everything originated there, from a network of consultancies and commissions that, on paper, should not sustain any regional government.
Ábalos, masks, and the lead candidates
As the investigation pogre, the ramifications extended to Madrid. The scheme's fixer allegedly claimed that the then-minister Ábalos gave orders and decided on the purchase of masks in the Canary Islands, a detail he denies and which remains in judicial dispute. Other published reports linked three PSOE lead candidates to parties with prostitutes, an aspect that is part of the investigations but has not been proven in court.
Order is important. All of the above is in the investigation phase: indictments, police reports, and leaks, not sentences. In such cases, the distance between the headline and a conviction is often measured in years.
How has the Mediator case ended?
Badly, if measured by the outcome. The deputy resigned his seat and his position, but there is no news of a trial. The case remains bogged down in the investigative courts of the Canary Islands, with protected witnesses changing their statements and evidence slipping away. The fixer was, according to the latest available data, negotiating a deal with the Prosecutor's Office to reduce his sentence in exchange for collaboration. The noise was enormous; the consequences, for now, discreet.
Some will remember the double standard. When the scandal was fresh, the PSOE encouraged its deputies to file lawsuits against anyone linking them to prostitution; days later, it expelled a socialist for appearing in photos from those parties. Coherence, in politics, is a scarce commodity and is quickly devalued.
Three years later, the case file remains in a Canary Islands court, the seat is empty, and almost no one has had to explain themselves before a tribunal. How long does a scandal take to die in Spain when no one pushes for it to be revived?
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (249 replies).
More summaries
-
Migrant Child Shot with Pellets in Ceuta: Doubts and Tensions Rise
Pelleting a migrant child in Ceuta: the absence of video evidence and the political strain on the southern border.
-
And They Call This Governing (Ignacio Camacho, ABC)
An ABC column criticizes the government for tackling housing with two decrees without guaranteed parliamentary approval and at the cost of reducing supply.
-
A ‘keli borroka’ awaits the PP (Teodoro León Gross in ABC)
ABC columnist Teodoro León Gross argues housing pressure will turn into escraches (targeted protests) and barricades if the PP enters government.
-
A democratic obligation unfulfilled (ABC editorial)
Article 134.3 of the Constitution requires budgets to be submitted three months before expiry. Spain is still running on the 2023 Budget.
-
Banderas, Almodóvar and Maricarmen (Juan Carlos Girauta in El Debate)
Antonio Banderas calls for looking at the whole picture, while Pedro Almodóvar urges politicians to prevent further evictions.
-
The USSR and the Origins of Borregocracia: Thesis and Suspicions
Soviet infiltration, free lawyers, Gramsci and academic inbreeding: the thesis that traces today's groupthink to the USSR.