Corruption in Spain is still a major problem

From El Pais

Spain has been given its worst rating in Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index, coming in at 41st place out of 176 countries with a score of 58. In 2015 it came in 36th out of 168 countries, with the same score.

“We have reached a historic record for corruption in comparative terms,” said a statement issued by Transparency International, which shows Spain falling far behind its EU neighbours. “We are joining a group of countries that have come close to systemic corruption very recently, such as Georgia and the Czech Republic,” adds the organisation, warning: “The time has come to react.”

“In Spain’s case, the experts and the public believe that there is more corruption since the start of the economic crisis. The data is disturbing and almost unexpected. We have never had such a bad position. We have hit the bottom. We cannot fall lower. It is time to react,” adds Villoria about 2016, when Spain was under an interim government that was unable to take specific measures against corruption. “If we don’t reduce it, democracy in the world will start to be endangered and there will be a serious advance in authoritarianism,” he states.

In November 2016, 80% of Spaniards said their government was failing to combat corruption. No other country in the EU registered such high levels of criticism on the part of voters toward their government.