Spain. When the music never stops

Spain's ruling Socialists fail tocall time on the patronage game

“WE THOUGHT the days of governments giving jobs to friends, meddling in companies and overriding shareholders were a thing of the past.” The reasons for this outcry from Eduardo Zaplana, a slick spokesman for Spain's centre-right opposition, are obvious to anyone who has seen the sweeping personnel changes, in every area of public and semi-private life, which have followed the Socialist election victory last March.

In the finest traditions of Mediterranean democracy, heads have been rolling in every agency under the government's control - and in many places that are supposed to be independent. There have been purges at think-tanks, the judiciary and the Cervantes Institute, which represents Spain's culture. The state-owned media, several key embassies, the security services and Madrid's museums have all seen changes at the top.

It is true, of course, that every democracy plays musical chairs by its own rules. Newcomers to America are often amazed by how many jobs change hands with a new administration; in Britain, the scope for government patronage - while amply exploited - is comparatively limited. But in Spain, as in many parts of southern Europe, new administrations play patronage games with a gusto that amazes people from further north.

Like every Mediterranean country, Spain has a rich set of words and customs surrounding the practice of patronage. If you have friends in high places and use them to get a job, you are said to have an enchufe or literally, a plug. To show gratitude for a political favour - what in America might be called a piece of pork - you can send your helper a jamon, a leg of ham.

It takes more than a change of government to change a political culture. But José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Socialist prime minister, may have a chance to break with the excesses of political favour-trading - if he keeps a vow to respect the independence of private firms and regulators. At least in theory, the Socialists are committed to strengthening the agencies which regulate energy, financial markets, and mergers and monopolies; none of these bodies has ever had many teeth. A start has been made with the naming of a respected figure, Manuel Conthe, as head of the Comisin Nacional del Mercado de Valores, which oversees financial markets.

What everyone wants to know now is how far the Socialists will use their influence to alter the management of newly privatised companies in which the state still has a share. Already there has been one change: a Socialist ex-minister, Luis Atienza, has been put in charge of Red Electrica de Espana, a power distribution firm of which the state owns just over a quarter.

Will there be more? Pedro Solbes, the finance minister, murmurs that he wants to see “honest, competent” people in top business jobs. Mr Zaplana, from the opposition People's Party, retorts angrily: “Presidents of companies answer to stock-holders, not the government.” But that is a bit rich, coming from a man whose party used to cram big firms with its cronies.