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Fredbargate May 21st 2017 6:58 pm

END CORRUPTION
 
A call to end ‘scandal and corruption’ in Spain

Spain has been systematically engulfed in corruption scandals in recent years. Few aspects of public life in the country have remained exempt of corruption, be it the Royal House, large corporations, municipal authorities, sports, or political parties.

Accordingly, Spain has suffered one of the steepest declines in the past years on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index. Spain has gone down by seven points since 2012 and with 58 now scores worse than most Western European democracies.

“Corruption in Spain distorts policy making and hurts people’s basic rights for the benefit of a few.

https://www.transparency.org/news/pr...mic_corruption

dougal03 May 22nd 2017 10:37 pm

Re: END CORRUPTION
 
Spain used to be even more corrupt.Everyone seemed to be on to it.We were offered a telephone landline,in the 1980,s,immediately if we gave a certain engineer a bottle of J.Walker!At least nowadays it is being exposed more often.Look how the King,s sister was to appear in court,can,t see that happening to any member of our Royal family.So perhaps it,s more a case of things being kept under wraps in other countries.

amideislas May 24th 2017 6:32 pm

Re: END CORRUPTION
 
Over here, they seem to have declared war on corruption. Every few weeks, they're arresting politicians and their cohorts. Latest one are top businessmen in Magaluf, and the local politicians complicit in it their scheme.

Nothing like 10 years ago, when corruption was part of everyday life. Arrests were rare. Not anymore. Those days are gone.

dougal03 May 25th 2017 3:31 am

Re: END CORRUPTION
 
I agree, amideislas

Culebronchris May 27th 2017 4:19 am

Re: END CORRUPTION
 
Spaniards seem to have two classes of corruption. The political kind, the business kind where people line their pockets with other people's money is definitely under attack from all sides.

However, the sort of everyday corruption - where the amount on your house deeds is not the same as the amount you actually paid, the monthly pay check which says that you worked fewer hours than you did but the boss pays you the rest in cash, never paying VAT/IVA on any building work, a pal pulling in a favour to help you find a job, funcionarios who think that it's fine to bunk off for a couple of hours for their breakfast and all the rest are still very, very common and shows no sign of changing.

amideislas May 29th 2017 2:25 am

Re: END CORRUPTION
 

Originally Posted by Culebronchris (Post 12261466)
Spaniards seem to have two classes of corruption. The political kind, the business kind where people line their pockets with other people's money is definitely under attack from all sides.

However, the sort of everyday corruption - where the amount on your house deeds is not the same as the amount you actually paid, the monthly pay check which says that you worked fewer hours than you did but the boss pays you the rest in cash, never paying VAT/IVA on any building work, a pal pulling in a favour to help you find a job, funcionarios who think that it's fine to bunk off for a couple of hours for their breakfast and all the rest are still very, very common and shows no sign of changing.

It's probably different here, but most of what you've said is much harder to find anymore.

amount on your house deeds is not the same as the amount you actually paid

A bit of a non-point, because you pay tax on the actual assessed value, not what you pay for it. There are only a few situations where paying less than market value and making it up with cash has any upside. One is a situation where the seller has a significantly taxable capital gain from the sale of the property, but then, the buyer doesn't get much benefit, yet assumes the risks.

the monthly pay check which says that you worked fewer hours than you did but the boss pays you the rest in cash

Haven't seen any sign of this for years. I think it might apply occasionally for low paid temporary seasonal work, but there's no advantage, and significant risk to any employer with permanent employees. Around here, employers demand everything to be straight up legal.

never paying VAT/IVA on any building work

Only with the small hand worker outfits (particularly in auto repair work) Otherwise, any professional work (particularly anything that the buyer needs a factura as a tax deduction) is going to charge IVA, because it goes directly to hacienda. But this is actually the same as just about anywhere. Including Britain.

funcionarios who think that it's fine to bunk off for a couple of hours for their breakfast

There's something somewhat new around here. It's called "competition". Workers can't get away with that any more. You can kiss your job goodbye if you operate that way, because there's plenty of work, and somebody else who's willing to get the job done, if you don't.

geoff52 May 29th 2017 3:23 am

Re: END CORRUPTION
 

Originally Posted by amideislas (Post 12262239)
It's probably different here, but most of what you've said is much harder to find anymore.

amount on your house deeds is not the same as the amount you actually paid

A bit of a non-point, because you pay tax on the actual assessed value, not what you pay for it. There are only a few situations where paying less than market value and making it up with cash has any upside. One is a situation where the seller has a significantly taxable capital gain from the sale of the property, but then, the buyer doesn't get much benefit, yet assumes the risks.

the monthly pay check which says that you worked fewer hours than you did but the boss pays you the rest in cash

Haven't seen any sign of this for years. I think it might apply occasionally for low paid temporary seasonal work, but there's no advantage, and significant risk to any employer with permanent employees. Around here, employers demand everything to be straight up legal.

never paying VAT/IVA on any building work

Only with the small hand worker outfits (particularly in auto repair work) Otherwise, any professional work (particularly anything that the buyer needs a factura as a tax deduction) is going to charge IVA, because it goes directly to hacienda. But this is actually the same as just about anywhere. Including Britain.

funcionarios who think that it's fine to bunk off for a couple of hours for their breakfast

There's something somewhat new around here. It's called "competition". Workers can't get away with that any more. You can kiss your job goodbye if you operate that way, because there's plenty of work, and somebody else who's willing to get the job done, if you don't.

I have little experience of Spain, but I have lived in other countries where corruption was rife.
The key thing for corruption to persist is if the judiciary and the police are also corrupt. Because then the culprits know that law enforcement officials can be bribed and they have nothing to fear.
Also the natives have a far better knowledge of the corruption system then outsiders do, even if outsiders have lived in the country for a long time.

amideislas May 29th 2017 4:24 am

Re: END CORRUPTION
 
Well, again, the part about corrupt police, politicians, and judiciary is being systematically destroyed. Every few weeks, more go to jail, and it's been that way for a few years now. Public servants are keeping their noses pretty clean nowadays, else they face some very serious shit (at least around here). You can argue about methods - the prosecutors do use some questionable tactics at times, but they're definitely "draining the swamp".

My post was in response to the assertion of "everyday" corruption, which is also nothing like what it was even 10 years ago. They've come a long way with that too.

You can be forgiven for presuming that out here in the third-world, corruption is part of everyday life, but there's a flaw in your premise; It just ain't the third-world anymore.

Culebronchris May 29th 2017 4:31 am

Re: END CORRUPTION
 

Originally Posted by amideislas (Post 12262239)
It's probably different here, but most of what you've said is much harder to find anymore.

amount on your house deeds is not the same as the amount you actually paid

A bit of a non-point, because you pay tax on the actual assessed value, not what you pay for it. There are only a few situations where paying less than market value and making it up with cash has any upside. One is a situation where the seller has a significantly taxable capital gain from the sale of the property, but then, the buyer doesn't get much benefit, yet assumes the risks.

the monthly pay check which says that you worked fewer hours than you did but the boss pays you the rest in cash

Haven't seen any sign of this for years. I think it might apply occasionally for low paid temporary seasonal work, but there's no advantage, and significant risk to any employer with permanent employees. Around here, employers demand everything to be straight up legal.

never paying VAT/IVA on any building work

Only with the small hand worker outfits (particularly in auto repair work) Otherwise, any professional work (particularly anything that the buyer needs a factura as a tax deduction) is going to charge IVA, because it goes directly to hacienda. But this is actually the same as just about anywhere. Including Britain.

funcionarios who think that it's fine to bunk off for a couple of hours for their breakfast

There's something somewhat new around here. It's called "competition". Workers can't get away with that any more. You can kiss your job goodbye if you operate that way, because there's plenty of work, and somebody else who's willing to get the job done, if you don't.

Oh.

Fredbargate May 29th 2017 7:03 am

Re: END CORRUPTION
 

Originally Posted by amideislas (Post 12262281)
Well, again, the part about corrupt police, politicians, and judiciary is being systematically destroyed. Every few weeks, more go to jail, and it's been that way for a few years now. Public servants are keeping their noses pretty clean nowadays, else they face some very serious shit (at least around here). You can argue about methods - the prosecutors do use some questionable tactics at times, but they're definitely "draining the swamp".

My post was in response to the assertion of "everyday" corruption, which is also nothing like what it was even 10 years ago. They've come a long way with that too.

You can be forgiven for presuming that out here in the third-world, corruption is part of everyday life, but there's a flaw in your premise; It just ain't the third-world anymore.

Your comments please

Millionaire Mallorca businessman Tolo Cursach faces 80 years in jail over string of allegations - Olive Press News Spain

amideislas May 29th 2017 9:18 am

Re: END CORRUPTION
 
Yes, he's the latest in a long list (I believe I mentioned it earlier). They finally got him. And Magaluf corruption (one of the remaining corruption hotspots here, including its county of Calvia leadership) is finally getting under control, facilitating the badly needed investment to upgrade the resort to higher standards, attracting a more sophisticated clientele. Same thing is already happening in Playa de Palma. The swamp has already been (mostly) drained there, though, and the investment is already starting to come in. 3 new mega hotels last year...

Culebronchris Jun 1st 2017 6:52 pm

Re: END CORRUPTION
 
La Tesorería de la Seguridad Social le reclama esta cifra en concepto de diferencias en las cotizaciones a raíz de varias denuncias del sindicato CGT investigadas y confirmadas por la Inspección de Trabajo. Adif abonó a los trabajadores las horas extraordinarias como horas de fuerza mayor, que cotizan a la mitad, además de pagar como pluses o dieta varios conceptos salariales. La empresa asegura que está al corriente de los pagos.

The methods for avoiding the social security are dead normal. The sort of thing I was talking about


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