Rubalcaba reveals his earnings: 55,000 euros plus expenses

Socialist leader Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba said on Thursday that he has asked the Spanish AEAT tax agency to supply him with his personal income returns to demonstrate that he earns no more than 55,000 euros annually, without including the per diems he is entitled to as a parliamentary member.

Speaking to reporters, Rubalcaba also announced that the Socialists will present a resolution in Congress in a bid to come up with a method by which all deputies, senators and top government officials can make public their earnings and personal financial statements in a regulated manner.

His move comes after Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy over the weekend released his tax returns on the Popular Party’s website. The PP leader had come under pressure to provide such information after secret account ledgers kept by the former party treasurer, Luis Bárcenas, allegedly showed that Rajoy and other leading members had been given under-the-table cash bonuses over the years. The conservative party then publicly demanded that Rubalcaba did the same.

Rubalcaba explained that last year he earned 67,229 when including all the expenses assigned to him as a parliamentary bloc leader. Without the stipends, his basic salary was 55,849 euros.

Rajoy’s released financial statements showed that he earned 135,000 without per diems while he was leader of the opposition.

“I have no ‘B’ or ‘C’ accounts,” he said, referring to the alleged secret slush fund that was used by Bárcenas to pay top PP leaders on top of their salaries.

Carlos Floriano, the PP deputy secretary general and number-three official in the ruling party, criticized Rubalcaba, saying that he has close to one million euros in different financial instruments. “He should stop the nickel-and-diming, and show us all his financial records,” Floriano said.

Rubalcaba responded: “The PP’s problem is not my salary but Bárcenas.”

On Wednesday in Congress the Socialist leader had urged Rajoy to resign over the Bárcenas affair.