Yup, having done business there, Spain is endemically corrupt and slack. The people like it that way. To be fair, I enjoyed the place.
We might speak of corruption, but the line between Government/Politics and Protection-Racket/Corruption is very blurred.
Ultimately it works the same everywhere on this planet - the public sector feeds off the productive sector. A dumb or over-greedy public sector cripples it's golden goose. A clever one keeps it healthy, to lay lots of nice golden eggs to steal.
Any smart gangster Don could tell you that.
Getting gas out of the ground is well within the capabilities of Spanish industry. That's not a problem.
The various levels of Govt just have to "allow it" - i.e. get their fat, BS-ing arses out of the way. That takes some "lobbying", some "due process", satisfying "stakeholders", etc (a.k.a. BS and bribery).
Yet Govt always knows, once the work is done, they can reappear, "approve" whatever, and tax the value-generating enterprise.
They want it bad.
It's argued that in corrupt countries "the process" is less transparent, less reliable - perhaps? But so different from the way our politicians delay progress, pander to loud voices, and grease special interests and their electorates via the Tax Office?
I'm positive about our Iberian prospect. Frankly, at this SP it's obviously a free carry, and the actual work will be done by our partners.
Just hope our two Scotsmen can make the right "friends" in government.
