People following the TV news on the 10th were flabbergasted to hear what politicians in Navarra had been up to – a shameless milking of expense accounts.

Four politicians, amongst them the Prime Minister of the Regional Government of Najarra, Yolanda Barcina, formed a governmental commission called the Comision Permanenta de la Junta de Entidades Financieras. three other people: The Mayor of Pamplona, Enrique Maya, The Ex Prime Minister of the Regional Government, Miguel Sanz and the ex-Councillor for Economy and Hacienda, Alvaro Miranda.

These people would meet two or three times in just one day, charging full expenses for each of them, even though the meetings lasted just a matter of minutes, In other words, 1,717 euros per meeting, per head. One of the ‘team’ managed to take home 8,000 euros in one day in the form of expenses, because as head of the commission, he was entitled to 2,680 euros for each of those multiple sessions.

Bear in mind here that hospitals are being shut down, teachers and judges are being laid off because there is not enough money, yet this Band of Four had been soaking up funding in this fashion.

The Prime Minister of the Junta of Navarra says that she has no intention of resigning and that she had done nothing illegal or “incorrect.” However, the four members of this permanent commission have announced that they will return the money that they had taken in expenses; a total of 150,000 euros.

The outcry, not only in Navarra, but right across Spain, has been extreme and the whole episode has only gone further to widen the gap between the average Spanish citizen and the political body of the country.

(News: Navarra, Spain)