Spain among most corrupt EU States

Worse than Botswana, Qatar, Poland and the United States. The perception of corruption in Spain is still high, according to Transparency International (TI). With 58 points out of 100, the state occupies 41st position in a 2018 ranking of 180 countries that the NGO made public yesterday. Despite the small improvement on 2017, when it occupied 42nd position, the organisation warned Pedro Sánchez’ government that reforms have not worked and that the democratic regeneration promised by the Spanish prime minister in the censure motion against his predecessor Mariano Rajoy “has not been effective”.

Within the European Union, Spain continues to be one of the states where the perception of corruption is highest. Specifically, it has the ninth worst image of the 28. It remains below the average, which is 65 points out of 100. The best perceived are the Nordic states: Denmark (88), Finland (85) and Sweden (85). On the other hand, the highest perception of corruption is found in Bulgaria (42), Greece (45) and Hungary (46).

TI notes that the data show a relationship between corruption and the health of democracies. According to their references, “full democracies” have an average score of 75 - a long way above Spain’s 58 - while in “defective” democracies the average is 49. Below these parameters, and close to 30-35 points, come the “hybrid” regimes, which display autocratic tendencies. In declarations to the ACN, the director of TI in Europe, Carl Dolan, stated that Spain’s ranking shows it still needs “progress” to achieve the “good governance” levels of Denmark and Sweden. By way of example, he highlighted that the Spanish State does not have a law to protect whistleblowers or informants in cases of corruption.