Latest news with #Montoro
Local Spain
2 days ago
- Business
- Local Spain
EXPLAINED: Fresh corruption scandal hits Spain's opposition party
Another week, another major corruption scandal rocking the upper-echelons of Spanish politics. As The Local has covered in detail, ongoing corruption allegations surrounding Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez's inner-circle have in recent months left his government teetering on the edge. For many political pundits, it was a question of when rather than if the government would fall. Allegations against Sánchez's wife, brother, attorney general and two former right-hand men made his position seem untenable and opposition parties have furiously demanded his resignation and called for early elections. But now the Spanish right has been implicated in its own major corruption network. The opposition Partido Popular (PP), who were until last week making great use of the scandals as a political weapon, has found itself engulfed in their own rather embarrassing set of allegations that threatens to undo all that political momentum and, infuriatingly for them, hand Sánchez and the Spanish left a lifeline just when they thought he couldn't fight on for much longer. Cristóbal Montoro, Spain's former Finance Minister in the right-wing Rajoy government of 2011-2015 that preceded Sánchez, has been charged with creating "a network of influence" and taking kickbacks to favour gas companies that hired his law firm. He previously also served as Finance Minister in the Aznar government. Montoro is among more than 20 accused, including senior treasury officials, of receiving at least €11 million from energy companies for favourable government policy. Back in 2004 when the PP lost power to the Socialists (PSOE), Montoro left his post. He briefly became a Member of the European Parliament that same year, and in 2006 he founded a law firm, initially called Montoro y Asociados, later renamed Equipo Económico, with four former senior officials from his ministry. That firm is now at the centre of the plot. Montoro returned to national politics as an MP in 2008 and left the firm. In 2011, the PP returned to power and Montoro was once again appointed Minister of Finance. During this time, Montoro's former office and his partners allegedly influenced several senior ministerial appointments. This allegedly led to changes in legislation, centring on lowered tax commitments, to benefit gas companies that were clients of Montoro's firm, according to the court order accessed by Spanish daily El País: "In exchange for significant payments, they intervened decisively in legislative reforms [...] in accordance with the interests of their clients," it says. The investigation, which is still underway, has also found evidence that Equipo Económico charged 'commissions' from electricity and renewable energy companies to 'influence the decisions' of the government. The Guardian reports that Rajoy was told of Montoro's alleged dealings but did not take action. In the short-term, the investigations have wrong footed the current PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo's main political attack line by allowing Sánchez and the Spanish left to claim the Spanish right is the real party of corruption, or at the very least that their attack lines are hollow and hypocritical. Crucially, the allegations give Sánchez some breathing room as he tries to sure up support among his parliamentary partners and ensure his government lasts a full second term. Elections aren't slated in Spain until 2027. However, that both of Spain's two great partidos del estado are simultaneously caught up in serious corruption allegations does little to help long-held political disenchantment among Spanish voters. It likely boosts the far-right, too. Dissatisfaction with Spain's two main parties gives greater opportunity for far-right Vox, surging in the polls already, to portray the Spanish system as broken and in need of something new.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Cyclist breaks bones after pothole left unfilled
A cyclist was left with a broken cheekbone and elbow after he hit a pothole covered with water before blacking out. The BBC can reveal Surrey, East and West Sussex, Brighton and Kent councils paid out £4.1m in compensation to road-users over the past five years. Crowborough resident Gianni Montoro, who was cycling in Station Road in Groombridge, said: "My front wheel never came out of that pothole, my back wheel came up and I got catapulted down to the ground." East Sussex County Council wished Mr Montoro a speedy recovery and said they carried out a temporary repair before the incident, but could not do a permanent repair due to water on the road. The pothole was submerged in water and had been reported to East Sussex County Council by a resident four weeks before the accident. "I hit the ground like a potato bag," Mr Montoro said. The father-of-two has been cycling for more than 20 years but said the incident had left him shaken. "The pothole was left, I couldn't see it, I had no idea what was coming, I just know I couldn't swerve to protect myself," added Mr Montoro, who owns the delicatessen Arte Bianca in Tunbridge Wells. He said: "If any other cyclists had gone the same way that morning they would have had the same destiny as mine. No chance." The pothole was repaired a few days after the accident. Groombridge resident Sarah Andrews said she reported the pothole on the Fix My Street App. She said the council came out and marked the pothole to be fixed but it was not filled in. Ms Andrews added: "The pothole was bad and was getting progressively worse. "It was bigger than my foot and I'm a size five, the water was eventually up to my ankle." Ms Andrews said residents had put a traffic cone in the pothole to alert drivers and cyclists, but the cone got damaged. "Why didn't the council put up a barrier or cordon it off so people knew it was there?" she added. Duncan Dollimore, from charity Cycling UK, said potholes could be "potentially life-changing" to cyclists. Every year 40 cyclists are seriously injured from potholes and between two and three die, Mr Dollimore says. He added: "It puts people off cycling which has massive health, environmental and wellbeing benefits so we should be doing more to make sure this isn't a problem." Additional reporting by Alex Bish. Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. Cyclist thought 'this is it' after pothole crash Pothole that caused serious cyclist crash not fixed Unfixed road crack led to cyclist's death East Sussex County Council Cycling UK
