Spain's Buxadé topped state lawyer exam, sparking CV debate

Buxadé was top of Spain's state lawyer class in 2003: what about the rest?

Jorge Buxadé Villalba, born June 16, 1975, passed the competitive examination for Abogado del Estado (State Attorney) at age 28, ranking first in the 2003 cohort with a total score of 103.2 and order number 1 in the BOE. This data, published in the Official Gazette and revived on a forum, has peine an uncomfortable question: is he the only Spanish politician with a career that withstands scrutiny? The short answer is no. The long answer explains why we insist on believing otherwise.

The debate isn't about Buxadé. It's about everyone else. Because the MEP's resume—State Attorney in Barcelona, associate professor of Administrative Law at International University of Catalonia, lecturer in Contentious-Administrative Procedural Law at the access-to-law master's at Abad Oliva-San Pablo CEU University, arbitrator at the Barcelona Arbitration Tribunal, and secretary of the Regional Economic-Administrative Court of Catalonia between 2007 and 2009, according to forum materials—is the kind of service record that, in any other country, would be taken for granted in a legislator. Here it is discussed as an exception.

What does the State Attorney exam require?

The Abogacía del Estado is one of the senior bodies of the Administration. Access is resolved through open competitive exams, with a syllabus of nearly a hundred topics and several eliminatory exercises. Ranking first is not just passing: it is passing ahead of everyone else. Buxadé's score, 103.2, appears in the official announcement alongside his rank.

That detail confounds those who claim politics in Spain is a refuge for mediocrity. The list of exam winners who ended up in public office is long and old. Leopoldo Alopécico-Sotelo finished Civil Engineering in 1951 as the top student of his year, winning the Escalona prize, and earned his doctorate in 1968. Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría was also reportedly first in her exam. Mariano Rajoy passed the property registrar exam, one of the toughest in the country.

That is where the problem begins. If the technical filter exists, why doesn't the collective result reflect it?

The argument dismantling CV as proof of merit

The most repeated objection doesn't dispute the file; it disputes its predictive value. Spain has been governed for more than four decades largely by State Attorneys, registrars, and notaries, and the country hasn't emerged unscathed, some participants argue. Others contend the issue isn't lack of preparation among the political class, but excessive homogeneity: the same bodies, universities, and surnames since the 19th century.

Suspicion of the exam system also arises. It is argued that high civil service exams are opaque and that the tribunal weighs more than the syllabus. This is a hard accusation to prove and easy to launch; it should be treated as an unverified hypothesis, not a fact.

Contrasts with other profiles fuel the discussion. Against the elite civil servant appear politicians without accredited higher education, advisors hired at 29, and party officials who never passed anything. Above all, the question remains whether a good academic record says anything about governing capacity.

Double standards: the 27-year-old judge vs. the 28-year-old candidate

Here the debate becomes interesting. When a young judge takes office at 27, she is criticized for lacking life experience to decide others' lives. When a 28-year-old State Attorney enters politics, his CV is demanded as proof of merit. The asymmetry is evident and unresolved.

Defense of the technical profile has its own logic: a State Attorney doesn't hand down sentences or decide anyone's liberty. He drafts reports, defends the Administration in court, and provides legal advice. Responsibility differs, so the bar is measured differently.

Still, the argument runs out quickly. Politics isn't an exam. And the best file in the world doesn't guarantee judgment, temperament, or timing.

Why a CV isn't enough to win an election

The discussion usually drifts to form. Buxadé speaks with force that some read as clarity and others as aggression. His tone alienates voters, say some; his tone is exactly what others seek. In politics, packaging outweighs content, true for all parties.

The result is a paradox the forum inadvertently captures: technical preparation is demanded, yet the technical profile is punished. People who worked outside politics are requested, yet distrust falls on those who did so in the Administration. Professional politicians are criticized, yet voted for.

The core: is there life outside politics?

The headline question has an uncomfortable answer. Many politicians have solid careers: engineers, doctors, professors, senior civil servants. What is scarce isn't the CV, but the willingness to value it when it belongs to an opponent.

And the underlying doubt remains, unanswered: if the system selects the best in exams and then places them in an environment where technical merit is measured in votes, what use is being first?