By Martin Delfin. Memo from Madrid
After Spain won the world cup on Sunday night, CNN reporter Don Riddell told viewers that many Spaniards he interviewed in Madrid hoped this victory would give the country a fresh new outlook on the presumption that by sticking together they can achieve miracles. Obviously they were talking about the financial crisis and how the deep political gaps in this nation have hurt us more than they have done us good.
Why was Spain able to pull off its 2010 World Cup victory? It wasn’t only because they had the best team – which undoubtedly they did – nor because the players were lucky. It was the fans’ spirit that gave them the energy to thrust the team forward in six rounds. This is the same type of positive energy Spain needs at this time to swallow the bitter measures the government has served up to stop this downward economic spiral, and make the necessary changes to show Europe and the world that we are indeed a first class team.
Every politician from each side of the spectrum backed the Spanish national squad, while Spaniards everywhere stopped their lives over the course of two days to watch, hold their breaths, and take to the streets in great cheers. There was no bickering about Del Bosque’s coaching style or gripes about Pedro’s handling of the ball. No one pointed out that Puyol – who scored the only goal to take us to the finals – is a Catalan who plays for Barça. And maybe eyebrows were raised – but I am sure they were fewer than many – when he and Xavi draped themselves with the Catalan flag – the legitimate one, not the lone star banner of independence – when they were on the pitch celebrating on Sunday night, the day after 400,000 people gathered in Barcelona to demand independence. That gesture didn’t evoke any loud outbursts. It was Spain that won the World Cup, not Catalonia, Andalucia (where Jesús Navas and Sergio Ramos hail from), nor Llorente’s Basque Country.
But that has all come to a close. Now the quarrelling sets in anew as those who are dead set against the Socialists will continue to pound their fists on the table threatening not to pass any new legislation if the prime minister doesn’t take back his austerity programme. And while the debate over the Catalan statute and the general cries for independence in that restless region promise to drive more wedges, it is more important that Spain keep up the spirit’s momentum to help find solutions to the more important things in our lives. Spaniards must come together to demand that the politicians work together to bring this country forward. Collective wills are what win championships.
As I write this column on Sunday night, with the noises of vuvuzelas, blasting dance music, whistles, car horns echoing from my neighbourhood’s main boulevard, the celebration sounds make me a bit sad as I realise that this same type of unity didn’t, hasn’t and probably will never occur among those who are in charge of helping put this nation on the right foot.
Time to pay the piper
A regular reader of this column sent me an interesting article published by truthdig.com that quotes US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a Brookings Institute lecture. She said that “the rich are not paying their fair share in any nation that is facing [major] employment issues... whether it is individual, corporate, whatever the taxation forms are.” The article goes on to quote from a report from the Centre for American Progress that points to Greece, which hasn’t been effective in collecting taxes from those who should be paying the most.
“The real problem facing the Greeks is not how to reduce spending but how to increase revenue collections.” So when Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero announced that he was raising taxes for those in the super-salary bracket, there was an outpour of cries coming from the conservative Popular Party whose ranks are filled with a lot of wealthy people.
Then something else came afoot. Last week, sources at the High Court told El País that they were conducting what was perhaps the biggest tax evasion case in the history of Spain - €500 million stashed away in offshore accounts. The target of their inquiry is Demetrio Carceller Sr, an octogenarian Catalan beer baron, who for the past 15 years had allegedly been lying to the AEAT tax collection agency by listing his main residence in Portugal. The High Court has embargoed Carceller’s assets as the investigation continues. The family’s holdings include Damm brewery and the DISA oil company. If such a wealthy man was able to fool the tax man for years, just how many others are hiding their money in tax paradises?
Martin Delfin writes for the English language version of El Pais.
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