Saturday, March 04, 2006
Corruption in the Canary Islands
Want to know how the political wheels are greased on these islands? No, I don't blame you. I scan the Spanish headlines and try my best not to, though sometimes you can't ignore it.
Years ago I read Los Cristianos lawyer, Pedro Ripol's book, "Corrupcion, Indiferenceia y Cobardia" (the last word means cowardice, the rest is obvious.) Not a quick reference guide, but it reads like a "Who's Who" of who is in who's pocket.
There was a time when this would have been alarming. Now that we are beginning to see that all is not quite as Kosher in the rest of the "civilised" world as we were once led to believe, one starts to understand the indifference aspect. There is a certain "honesty" in knowing that this is "the system".
And it is certainly not a new one, as nineteenth century traveller, Olivia Stone, reported describing the sought after post of mayor, following her travels round the islands in the 1880s.
It is rare, however, to find something current in English, which explains how day-to-day public services and pocket lining are organized to the obvious benefit of an "old boys network".
Corruption did Granny say
