The business of fake résumés among politicians (I, PSOE)

For several years, a series of cases about alleged falsification of résumés have been emerging within PSOE, something that has even reached the top ranks of the Socialist Party, including the case of President Pedro Sánchez. The current president of Spain claimed some time ago that he had a master's degree from IESE, which ultimately is not true, since what Sánchez actually has is a course in Public Leadership. The socialist leader hid the fact that he has a doctoral thesis that is not public and that he completed his bachelor's degree in Economics at a private religious institution in El Escorial affiliated with UCM, the Real Centro Universitario María Cristina.

 

Pedro Sánchez's doctoral thesis is not public

Meanwhile, the president of the Valencian Community, Ximo Puig, claimed that he had a bachelor's degree in Journalism, something he theoretically lacked, since Puig doesn't possess any university degree. The Valencian deputy started a degree in Journalism, but he did not finish it because he began working in media outlets. Within the Valencian community section, there is also Bernat Soria, PSOE's candidate for Alicante. His case is more serious, since when he was a deputy during José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's term, he said that he was dean at the Faculty of Medicine of Alicante and had been a researcher in Singapore, claims that later turned out to be false.

The deputy in the Congress for Vizcaya and current Secretary of Federal Policy of PSOE, Patxi López, claimed to have the title of Industrial Engineer, something far from reality, since he did start the Industrial Engineering degree at the University of the Basque Country, but he left it at the age of 28.

 

Patxi López left his Industrial Engineering degree

Regarding the Community of Madrid, the leader of PSM, José Manuel Franco, claimed to be a graduate in Mathematics, but he had to deny this degree, since he doesn't have a degree in this science, although he was a mathematics teacher. Meanwhile, the Madrid native and vice president of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament, Elena Valenciano, stated that she had studies in Law and Political Science on her résumé, which implied that she had completed degrees in these respective fields. Valenciano had to justify this by saying that she had indeed studied them, but had not finished them and that is why she wrote "studies in Law and Political Science."

Also related to the Law degree was José Blanco. The former Secretary of Organization and Deputy Secretary General of PSOE claimed that he had among his credentials a bachelor's degree in Law, a degree that he left after the first year of starting it.

 

"Pepiño" Blanco only completed the first year of law

The former president of Generalitat in Catalonia and current senator for PSC, José Montilla, claimed that he had a degree in Law and Economics, something that in 2010 was revealed to be untrue. Montilla did not finish his studies in Law and Economics, and he also doesn't have a driver's license.

Óscar Puente, the mayor of Valladolid, said that he had completed a master's degree in Political Management in 1992. Years later, this turned out to be false and Puente said it was only a course, something that concerned PSOE, since they had to ask the mayor for explanations.

Andalusia is the most affected community

The president of Andalusia, Susana Díaz, obtained the master's degree in Senior Management of Social Institutions at the Instituto Internacional de San Telmo, which between 2004 and 2009 was funded by ERE funds. Díaz boasted about taking that course, something that, in 2015, began to worry several PSOE leaders. On the other hand, the mayor of Córdoba, Isabel Ambrosio, had to deny that she had a diploma in Teaching from UNED. This degree appeared on Ambrosio's résumé on PSOE's website until 2015.

 

The institute where Susana Díaz studied her master's is also under scrutiny

Meanwhile, the mayor of Jerez, Mamen Sánchez, embellished her résumé with two degrees. First, she claimed to have a diploma in Tourism, Management, and Public Administration, which was a mistake, since Public Administration is a different degree. Meanwhile, a diploma in Tourism and Technician in Labor Insertion, something that would later be proven false.

Only one resignation

This was the case of PSOE's young promise for Cantabria, Estela Goikoetxea, who made the serious mistake of stating that she had a bachelor's degree in Biotechnology, a fact that forced the young deputy to resign. Currently, Goikoetxea is pursuing a degree in Environmental Sciences.

 

Estela Goikoetxea, the only resignation among the socialist ranks

Goikoetxea was one of Susana Díaz's opening acts, an interesting fact, since the deputy claimed that she only knew the president from having coincided with her once or twice at some event.