MADRID, June 4 (Reuters) - A refreshing gin and tonic may have been just what Spanish members of parliament needed after sessions grappling with unemployment, street protests, a sinking economy and other problems.
But the subsidised cocktails at the parliament’s cafeterias
stirred up outrage amongst the suffering Spanish public,
So the heads of political parties agreed on Tuesday to take
them off the menu.
Fixed low prices had meant MPs could enjoy a gin and tonic
for 3.45 euros – about half the price as at a regular bar.
The issue surfaced when parliament began to take bids from
catering companies to run the cafeterias that had to guarantee
services including a 9-euro lunch menu and cheap gin and tonics.
“There’s no money for school lunches, but there is for gin,”
Maite Estrada Salvador wrote in a letter to El Pais newspaper
last week.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government has raised taxes
and cut back on spending on schools and hospitals to plug a huge
budget hole. Meanwhile, a series of corruption scandals have hit
his credibility and polls show that politicians have the worst
public image of any institution in Spain, with a disapproval
rating of 93 percent.
Alfonso Alonso, leader of the ruling People’s Party in
parliament, said the flap over the gin and tonics had given MPs
a frivolous image.
“It makes citizens upset, and they are right, so the
leadership has decided to change it,” he told reporters.
The good news for the MPs is that other fixed prices in
parliamentary cafeterias will stay – including a 0.95 euro glass
of beer, compared to 1.5-2 euros in a bar.
