Bassi bus returns to shame the Spanish capital

On one side of the road, an exultant field of poppies undulates in the breeze; on the other, a fence hides a 1.2-hectare pond of toxic sludge, which gives off an unbearable stench. Around 130 people are taking in the scene in Madrid's Southeastern Regional Park, on the Bassibus tour of the worst of Madrid. They are taking turns to step up ladders to see over the fence and watch Leo Bassi and his collaborators. They jump down the other side, slip dangerously on the greasy grass, and reach the edge of the pool of black oil in which, since 1989, some 20,000 birds have become trapped, according to the estimate of the Group for Rehabilitation of Autochthonous Fauna (GREFA). Bassi and his companions throw an electoral poster for the Popular Party (PP) onto the surface of the oily water.

The poster features the PP's slogan, "Centered on you." The image of regional premier Esperanza Aguirre smiles up from the noxious slime. The result of this action seems to be a prophesy of the result of the upcoming elections, and a metaphor of how the PP's recent corruption scandals make little impact on a drowsy electorate. A few yards away lies another pond of a similar size, which may be contaminated by way of ground water.

The Italian comic and satirist Leo Bassi is the scourge of the Popular Party, thanks to his stage shows and Bassibus tour, which aims to show its passengers the worst excesses of political corruption and extravagance. This time around, the aim was to "visit the sites of [corruption case] Gürtel and the bad government of Madrid," his website says.

In the Madrid suburb of Arganda, the Bassibuses draw up to the grounds where the biennial music festival Rock in Río is held. Bassi holds up the event as an example of a private business sustained with public money. According to data from the local Socialist Party (PSOE), the regional and municipal governments - both in the hands of the PP - ceded the use of a tract of 200,000 square meters in the middle of the countryside to the organizers. It was apparently developed, with a paved and illuminated access road, parking lots and other services, costing the public purse 21 million euros. The Socialists also provide information for the passengers about the sale of a piece of municipal land, at a price11 million euroslower than the valuation by the real estate firm Aguirre Newman, an operation for which the former mayor, Ginés López, is facing charges in the Gürtel corruption scandal.

Sunday's excursion began in front of the Madrid waterworks, the Canal de Isabel II, where a citizens' group spoke of the private benefits and the public costs of its privatization, which is being pushed by Aguirre. Then, in front of the nearby Teatros del Canal cultural center (run by the regional government), Bassi parodied Albert Boadella, its director, in Ubú presidenta, a sketch based on a comedy in which Boadella once parodied the Catalan politician Jordi Pujol.

At the end of the tour, Bassi delivered a letter to the Teatros del Canal, in which he asked Boadella to quit his comfortable job as a tame house artist and courtier to the right-wing regional government, and cease lending his image to such an unsavory employer.