The Redondela oil case: the shadow that followed Rajoy

The Redondela oil case is not just a forgotten scandal of the Franco era; it is the key that explains Mariano Rajoy's rise. Or at least, that is the thesis of those who have looked under the rug of Spain's transition to democracy.

In 1972, the disappearance of more than 4 million kilos of olive oil from the REACE depots in Guixar (Vigo) exposed what is considered the regime's biggest economic scandal. The value of the loot: 167 million pesetas at the time, about 4.5 million euros today. But the case was not just about the oil. Seven people connected with the investigation died in violent or unclear circumstances. And the judge who presided over the court that tried the case was Mariano Rajoy Sobredo, father of the former prime minister.

According to some analyses, the consequences went beyond the verdict, which amounted to nothing. Years later, the four children of Rajoy Sobredo passed civil service exams considered among the toughest in Spain. Mariano Rajoy became the country's youngest property registrar. His brothers also landed elite positions. For many, the coincidence is too convenient. The prosecutor at that trial, by the way, has never been publicly identified, but some point out he was close to Franco's circle.

Compared with today's corruption: the scale
For perspective, an anonymous user calculated that Francoism's biggest scandal equals, in today's euros, about 4.5 million. That is roughly 27 times less than the so-called Koldo case (between 50 and 120 million), and 150 times less than the 680 million of the ERE case in Andalusia. Corruption has not only not disappeared: it has multiplied dozens of times over. Or, seen another way, Francoism was so poor it could not even steal big.

The trail of deaths and the official silence
The Redondela case is also a story of unsolved deaths. Seven witnesses or people linked to the investigation died before testifying or shortly after. Some in traffic accidents; others violently. A direct connection was never proven, but the pattern feeds suspicion. Rajoy's father, as president of the court, handled all the evidence. The verdict ultimately acquitted the main defendants. The official account filed it away as a minor affair.

But the shadow never lifted. When Mariano Rajoy became prime minister, the case resurfaced whenever corruption in his party was mentioned. In his laconic style, he always brushed it off with an "I have no record of that." A matter of records.

The bottom line: 52 years after "Francoism's biggest scandal", the numbers don't add up. That four children of a key judge passed the toughest civil service exams right after the trial is more telling than any conspiracy. Perhaps, as one commenter says, the simulation needs a restart.