What is the Bárcenas affair?

It’s a scandal that took place in 2013. It was exposed that Luis Bárcenas, the treasurer and senator of Spain's People Party, had kept handwritten notes (the Bárcenas Papers) stating that the party had a separate bookkeeping system that was used to document undeclared, and illegal, cash donations.

Where have you heard about the Bárcenas affair?

The scandal broke out on 18th January 2013 and was covered by Spain's daily El Mundo paper. The paper reported that thousands of euros were donated monthly to this slush fund and that these illegal donations were used for bonuses and party expenses.

What you need to know about the Bárcenas affair.

Six politician and party employees have admitted to having received payments from this slush fund. The handwritten documents, which covered payments from 1990 until 2009, recorded regular payments of 25,000 euros a year for eleven years to Spain's current Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. On the 1st of August 2013 Rajoy was forced to address parliament and, whilst admitting to handling the scandal poorly, he denied receiving the funds.