Madrid's Plan to End Municipal Corruption

The city of Madrid is setting up a separate office to investigate a key source of corruption—the city itself. Starting this summer, Madrid’s new Office Against Fraud and Corruption will have the power to investigate and monitor anyone who provides services for the municipality, be they public or private. The move is both predictable and timely. Mayor Manuela Carmena, elected as head of a left-leaning coalition last May, is a life-long anti-corruption campaigner, so a City Hall cleanup was always likely to be in the cards with her at the helm.

And frankly, it’s about time. Madrid has been mired in a series of corruption-related scandals recently that have shaded into the ridiculous. In recent years, they have featured among their key figures a fine-dodging maverick countess and a state commissioner who tried to suggest that a million dollars found in his loft might have been left there by workers from IKEA.