Whilst the present Prime Minister was in opposition, he roundly criticised the then Leader of the Government, Sr. Zapatero, for using the official aircraft on party business; i.e., using an aircraft set aside for official state affairs and not such business as attending party conferences, for example. Yet barely ten months after taking up the post of Head of the Government, Mariano Rajoy has been doing precisely the same himself.

Prime Minister Rajoy used the governmental Flacon 900 to fly from Brussels, where he had been assisting a European Council meeting, to Vigo in Galicia to participate in two party rallies as part of the regional elections there. So what happened between his criticism of Zapatero in May 2009, where he described the PM as “arrogant” for using this aircraft for precisely the same thing, and his inappropriate use of it now?

Sr. Rajoy considered back then that Sr. Zapatero was making fun and laughing at the Spanish people and that such behavior was inappropriate of a democratic government in the 21st Century. A member of his party indignantly pointed out that each time that the Falcon was used, it cost over 15,000 euros.

When this latest incident was pointed out, a member of the Central Government hurried to claim that “it wasn’t the same and couldn’t be compared.” The Spokesman pointed out that Prime Minister Rajoy had been attending government business in Europe and that instead of returning to Madrid had decided to land in Vigo, instead, whereas ex-PM Zapatero had used the aircraft to shuttle about the country to attending meetings from Madrid. The same Spokesman emphasised that when Rajoy finished in Vigo, he returned to Madrid on a regular flight, paid for by the party.

Some will agree with the conservative spokesman’s explanation, but coming after the infamous attack of hypocrisy over the raising of the purchase tax, not everybody will see it that way. We are referring, of course, to when Rajoy in the opposition stated, “raising taxes is a stab in the back carried out by a bad leader on his people,” when then PM Zapatero announced that he would raise the IVA from 16% to 18%… barely twelve months later, PM Rajoy raised it from 18% to 21%… The question is whether this conservative spokesman considers that that incident is “not the same thing and not comparable,” as well?

(News: Spain)