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Villarejo: The rise and fall of the Spanish state’s secret fixer

bbc.com

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Re: Villarejo: The rise and fall of the Spanish state’s secret fixer

#31

Post by pqs »

alvatar wrote: post #25
arcturus17 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hearing a man speak, it is easy to know Where he saw the sun be born If he praises England, he must be English If he rebuffs Prussia, he is French And if he speaks ill of Spain... he is Spanish - Joaquín Bartrina, circa 1870

So true. As a spaniard I do it all the time. Love/hate my country.

We are quite hard on us. This is a nasty cultural trait of Spain, because this hinders our work. I work in science and I think we would do much better if we didn't have this inferiority complex.

Re: Villarejo: The rise and fall of the Spanish state’s secret fixer

#33

Post by nhnhhnl »

Erlich_Bachman wrote: post #10
pqs wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spain is a country with huge problems. But it is not a failed state. You should try Venezuela if you want to get the flavour of failure. In any case, Spain is very corrupt, including Catalonia (where I live), but many other EU countries are corrupt too. I think about France and all the corruption cases about weapons procurement contracts (Taiwan frigates, etc.). We can also think about the US ...

> Spain is a country with huge problems Any sources or further reading?

It's not, really, I've been living through most of Europe and Spain's quality of life is way above average, there's literally no homeless (except for people with mental health issues or foreigners) low/middle class people buy properties, there's development in every industry, etc.

Edit: Downvoter care to explain? Please check this [1] NUTS 2 official data, half of Spain is above half of Germany

[1] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/GDP_per_...

Re: Villarejo: The rise and fall of the Spanish state’s secret fixer

#34

Post by hummel »

nhnhhnl wrote: post #32
hummel wrote: post #3

Never expected to read the name "Villarejo" on HackerNews

Why? Could you elaborate please. Genuinely curious.

Because it is a case of corruption that is quite irrelevant at the Spanish level, much less at the European level and totally irrelevant at the global level. Villarejo is an ex-policeman who is blackmailing public figures to avoid a long prison sentence for corruption and bribe. He is a very basic blackmailer and the article at BBC is some PR to give some air to his judicial defence. It is certainly not a relevant/interesting/cultural article for HN.

Re: Villarejo: The rise and fall of the Spanish state’s secret fixer

#35

Post by tgv »

amval wrote: post #22
marvel_boy wrote: post #4

This is Spain, corruption at all levels. A failed state.

That's such a ridiculous claim that I have to assume you are spaniard. Spain is actually a pretty average EU country by most metrics. (Not to say that it doesn't have structural problems, but that's hardly exclusive to Spain)

Perhaps it isn't failed, but it is pretty corrupt, and it is not in good condition. I wouldn't call it "such a ridiculous claim", just good, old exaggeration.

Re: Villarejo: The rise and fall of the Spanish state’s secret fixer

#36

Post by nhnhhnl »

pqs wrote: post #31
alvatar wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So true. As a spaniard I do it all the time. Love/hate my country.

We are quite hard on us. This is a nasty cultural trait of Spain, because this hinders our work. I work in science and I think we would do much better if we didn't have this inferiority complex.

Exactly, seriously why is everyone in Spain like this? Spain is a wonderful and advanced country in most ways. Although I think having an inferiority complex is probably good for the country because it's the only way to improve.

Re: Villarejo: The rise and fall of the Spanish state’s secret fixer

#37

Post by nhnhhnl »

hummel wrote: post #34
nhnhhnl wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? Could you elaborate please. Genuinely curious.

Because it is a case of corruption that is quite irrelevant at the Spanish level, much less at the European level and totally irrelevant at the global level. Villarejo is an ex-policeman who is blackmailing public figures to avoid a long prison sentence for corruption and bribe. He is a very basic blackmailer and the article at BBC is some PR to give some air to his judicial defence. It is certainly not a relevant/in…

Great, thanks for the clarification, I edited my original comment because I guess it was out of place the way the question was made. Personally, I've seen way less interesting articles here on HN though...

Re: Villarejo: The rise and fall of the Spanish state’s secret fixer

#38

Post by radycov »

loriverkutya wrote: post #23
eznzt wrote: post #2

Villarejo is nowadays nothing more than a bluffer. Chances are he paid for this piece.

This is not how the BBC works.

That's not how the old BBC works. PG's submarine applies to the BBC as well, no doubt, as well as foreign lobby groups.

Re: Villarejo: The rise and fall of the Spanish state’s secret fixer

#39

Post by yokaze »

pqs wrote: post #31
alvatar wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So true. As a spaniard I do it all the time. Love/hate my country.

We are quite hard on us. This is a nasty cultural trait of Spain, because this hinders our work. I work in science and I think we would do much better if we didn't have this inferiority complex.

I think, it also hinders you from holding your government (on all levels) accountable. Cases of corruption or incompetence don't seem to me quite as reflected in elections as it should. The excuse always seems to me, that people claim the other side is just as bad. Not denying that, but with that level of expectation there is no need to clean up your act.

Re: Villarejo: The rise and fall of the Spanish state’s secret fixer

#40

Post by santialbo »

pqs wrote: post #31
alvatar wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So true. As a spaniard I do it all the time. Love/hate my country.

We are quite hard on us. This is a nasty cultural trait of Spain, because this hinders our work. I work in science and I think we would do much better if we didn't have this inferiority complex.

Until it's a foreigner doing it, then we all team up against.
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