IEB Report

Political Economy

Corruption: magnitude, causes and consequences

IEB Report 1/2015

Corruption is currently perceived as being one of the main problems affecting Spanish society. According to the latest barometer survey conducted by the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (CIS), 50% of the population identifies corruption and fraud as being among Spain’s three main problems1. Only the problem of unemployment is considered to be more serious, being identified by 80% of the population surveyed. Since the beginning of the last decade, coinciding with the housing market boom, numerous cases of corruption associated with the urban planning policies of local government have been reported. The bursting of the housing bubble in 2009 did not, however, mean the disappearance of corruption, but the coming to light (though not necessarily the beginning) of other forms of corruption, including cases linked to the financing of the political parties.