Many politicians accused of falsifying their degrees to 'climb higher'

SPAIN - The Southern European country's politics are going through turbulent days as a series of politicians are accused of falsifying their degrees and education in their personal resumes.

In less than 10 days, three senior officials from three different political parties in Spain have resigned after being questioned by the media and public about the authenticity of their academic records.

The incidents have not only sparked public outrage but have also caused observers to raise major questions about the background check mechanism. The media has said that these incidents have further deepened the crisis of trust in public institutions that has long existed in Spain.

Three shocking resignations

According to El País , the first incident that sparked the series of scandals occurred on July 23, when Noelia Núñez, a 33-year-old female congresswoman of the Popular Party (PP), suddenly announced her withdrawal from Congress and resignation.

Núñez was found to have claimed on her CV that she had a double degree in Law and Public Administration, when in fact she had not completed any formal training in either subject.

Three Spanish politicians have resigned within 10 days of each other after it was discovered that they had falsified their qualifications in their personal files. From left: Ignacio Higuero, Noelia Núñez and José María Ángel Batalla. Photo: El País

Initially, the female politician justified it as a “mistake in expression”, but pressure from the media and public opinion forced her to take responsibility. The fact that a young figure who was expected to be a “fresh breeze” of the People’s Party had to quit early because of the issue of academic transparency has disappointed the public. Less than a week later, José María Ángel Batalla, a veteran official of the Socialist Party (PSOE), also announced his resignation on July 30.

In his personal profile, he claimed to have graduated from the University of Valencia in 1983 with a degree in Archives and Library Studies. However, according to an investigation by The Times , this training program was not opened until 1990. This shocking information led to suspicions that Mr. Batalla may have used a fake degree to gain promotion in the state administrative system since the 1980s.

The third case is Ignacio Higuero, a member of the far-right Vox party. According to Cadena SER radio, Mr. Higuero stated in his CV that he had a Marketing degree from CEU University in 1993 - a time when the school did not have a Marketing training program. After the information was exposed, he also submitted his resignation without giving any official response to the press.

Self-reporting mechanisms and monitoring loopholes

One point of concern, according to El País , is that the Spanish Parliament currently does not require lawmakers to submit copies of their certificates or degrees. Educational credentials are largely based on self-declaration. This creates a large oversight gap, allowing fraud to slip through the cracks without independent scrutiny from the press or civil society.

Observers say the situation of "each person reporting a different story" has been going on for many years, but only recently has it exploded into a crisis when many cases were discovered at the same time.

The Cadena SER radio network described the three resignations in less than 10 days as "a wake-up call for the Spanish political system".

“Not every politician needs to have a high degree, but absolute honesty with voters is required,” said Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz, leader of the Sumar party. She called on parties to set up internal verification mechanisms to review all educational records of incumbent officials.

Meanwhile, some opposition party representatives asked the government and parliament to comprehensively reform the background declaration mechanism, including clearly stating the mandatory submission of copies of degrees and making all information public on the official website of each delegate.

On social networks, many people shared stories of being rejected from jobs because of lack of qualifications, expressing anger that many people can "climb high" in politics without real certificates.

The latest series of scandals also reminds public opinion of many previous shocking academic fraud cases in Spain.

Notably, Cristina Cifuentes, former President of the Community of Madrid, was accused of faking her master's degree in 2018. Or Carmen Montón, former Minister of Health, was forced to resign after being discovered to have plagiarized her master's thesis at Rey Juan Carlos University.

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