At a time when many people have no job, no savings and no income, the fact that we have 445,568 politicians drawing salaries from public funds is beyond comprehension for the average Spaniard.

Let’s put this into perspective with two very relevant facts:

A) Spain has more politicians than, policemen, firemen and doctors put together.

B) Spain has a population of just 46 million, which means that there is virtually one politician per 100 inhabitants, which if you compare it with Germany, where there are 200,000 politicians for a population 81 million inhabitants, you conclude that Spain has literally double the politicians and half the population.

Now, the reason why we’re mentioning all this is because two different cases within the province of Granada demonstrate two very different mentalities within the body politic of Spain.

Firstly, we have the Mayor of Órgiva, María Ángeles Blanco, who has decided to return to her previous job and thus give up her salary as a mayor. The said salary amounts to 31,514 euros per annum. This doesn’t mean that she is no longer the Mayor, but that she no longer draws a salary for it – her salary will come from her position as Head of the Day Centre for the Elderly, so she will have to combine the two tasks somehow.

In effect, she still draws a salary from the public purse, but as a public functionary for the Regional Government, rather than a political salary from the Town Hall coffers as Mayor. Now, the reason that she has done this is to free up two salaries for public functionaries employed by the Town Hall, for whom the opposition parties say that there is no money.

In the meantime, over in the west of the province, in Loja, we have the comment made by a conservative councillor for the Town Hall, who said, “I would be an idiot to vote in favour of my salary being taken away.” Note, that this councillor and the Mayor of Órgiva both belong to the same party.

Loja is governed by the PP with eight councillors and the Mayor, Joaquín Camacho, ordered all his councillors to vote in favour of a motion to modify the salaries earned by councillors. However, PP councillor, Antonio María Caro Derqui, joined ranks with the opposition (PSOE) and scuppered the motion. He has since left the PP and become an independent councillor, not surprisingly.

The motion basically proposed that the salary previously received by the ex-Vice Mayor be equally shared out amongst the other councillors that had taken on his responsibilities. The rebel councillor wanted the said salary shared out amongst them all, equally, irrespective of whether a councillor had had to take on extra responsibilities.

What the opposition wanted was that the extra money went to keep on temporary staff who were being dismissed through spending cuts within the Town Hall.

This is just a small insight into what is wrong with the country.

(News: Poniente/Alpujarra, Granada, Andalucia)