A scandal involving drugs, prostitution and kickbacks for public works is rocking Spain's ruling Socialists ahead of a year-end general election which polls suggest the party will struggle to win. At the heart of the affair is Juan Bernardo Fuentes, who has been forced to resign as a Socialist lawmaker from the Canary Islands. Public prosecutors allege the 60-year-old, also known as Tito Berni, collected kickbacks from businessmen in exchange for winning public contracts, European funds or exemptions from health inspections during the Covid-19 crisis. To benefit from the scheme the businessmen allegedly made an initial payment of €5,000 to a sports association headed by Fuentes via a "mediator" -- businessman Antonio Navarro. In exchange for additional payments of up to €3,500, businessmen allegedly received VIP tours of parliament or were taken to cocaine-fuelled parties organised at nightclubs and four-star hotels. Navarro has told Spanish media that he also organised a dinner at a luxury restaurant in Madrid attended by 15 Socialist lawmakers during the pandemic despite pandemic restrictions in place at the time. He has also said he staged parties for fellow businessmen that...
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