The Sultan of Oman appeared at Madrid City Hall on November 4. Haitham bin Tariq Al Said handed José Luis Martínez-Almeida a brown briefcase. Inside was a silver tray. A gift from his country to the mayor of the capital during his state visit. Days later, it was published on the municipal Transparency Portal that it had been a gift to the institution. Officials have written in the “value” section that it has not been possible to appraise it. It is not the only gift. There are zillions of different organizations and countries with a similar assessment.
Salvador Illa and his Government in Catalonia received 1,265 gifts last year alone. And the Royal House – the list for 2025 is still unknown – was gifted with 358 in 2024. All of them, from the briefcase of the Sultan of Oman to the mayor of Madrid in November to the latter, belong to State institutions.
But if Spanish political corruption has a common denominator, it is the use and abuse of the gift. How many times has the line been crossed where what is understood as courtesy must be called, plain and simple, bribery? Is there a regulation that prevents certain events from occurring?
The jewelry seized from José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in his office has cast doubt on its origin. The reason is the first explanation given by his spokesperson, the political scientist and director of the Ateneo de Madrid, Luis Arroyo, of the former socialist leader at a price that ranged between 30,000 and 50,000 euros.
official of the firm Ansonera and the Spanish Gemological Institute, known this week, has estimated them at 1.3 million euros. The former president will be asked about this in his court summons this Wednesday and Thursday. He is being investigated for a tax crime and another for smuggling for the jewelry found in his office.
But did he receive those jewels as a gift as president? Or as former president? Are there any regulations regarding gifts received by a senior official? Until 2005 there was no code that regulated them. It was precisely Zapatero, just one year after arriving at La Moncloa, when he approved a regulation in a Council of Ministers. A “of the members of the Government and the senior officials of the General Administration of the State.”
Here, the third section is very clear. “Any gift, favor or service under advantageous conditions that goes beyond the usual, social and courtesy uses, or loans or other economic benefits that may condition the performance of their duties, will be rejected,” the text says, “without prejudice to the provisions of the Penal Code.” And it points out that, in the case of those gifts that have a “greater significance”, they will become part of the State’s assets.
The Penal Code says in its article 422 that it provides for punishing officials or authorities who receive any “gift or gift that was offered to them in consideration of their position or function,” with penalties of up to one year in prison and suspension of employment and position of between one and three years. But the caveat is usually the question of social customs and customs.
“This Good Governance Code,” observes by telephone the executive director of Transparency International of Spain, David Martínez, “is simply a reflection of principles of conduct, a roadmap, an orientation.”
Martínez affirms that there is no type of sanction and that it is not legally binding either. “It is always advisable that all this is well regulated. In Argentina, for example, there is a registry where even deputies must enter what gift they have received.” They are not the only ones. The , also details the place of his lodgings, the date and the donor. Its registry includes gifts from both companies and other institutions.
In Spain, cases of mandatory gift registration are very rare. The Royal House is another example. gifts given to the Royal Family.
The 2013 version also refers to courtesy, without establishing limits. “They will not accept gifts that go beyond usual, social or courtesy uses, nor favors or services under advantageous conditions that may condition the development of their functions,” the rule says. Gifts of “greater institutional relevance,” he adds, will be incorporated into the assets of the Public Administration.
However, it is the one for senior positions that expressly repeals the Code of Good Government that Zapatero approved. But regarding the positions included among senior officials, the former presidents of the Government are not mentioned.
Today, both 2013 and 2015 are in force. Now, both, but they are still in a preliminary draft phase. “In Spain we do not know what gifts are received, who gives them, why they are received and what happens to them afterwards,” says the director of Transparency International.
This Saturday, the former minister with Zapatero Miguel Sebastián has published an article in which he states that three months after he was appointed minister, he traveled to Saudi Arabia. Here he was presented with a leather wallet by the king. Inside there was a bracelet, some earrings, a ring, all made of emeralds and diamonds, and a watch. His team was divided over what to do with such a gift.
Sebastián consulted his senior officer, who told him that the usual thing was for the gifts to be kept by the ministers. He had a display case built in the waiting room for visits to the Ministry. And they are still there.
