The Court of Auditors has proposed the dissolution of ten foundations linked to political parties that, at the beginning of 2024, were listed without any activity. Among them are three entities linked to the PSOE, and the supervisory body has also confirmed the bankruptcy of the Ramón Rubial Foundation, associated with the Socialist Party of Euskadi.
These conclusions are included in the Audit Report of the contributions received by the foundations and other entities linked to or dependent on political parties and the expenses of programs and activities financed with public subsidies, corresponding to the fiscal year 2023 and recently approved by the Court of Auditors.
In the case of the PSOE, the foundations that remained registered but without developing activity were the Ideas for Progress Foundation, the Carlos Chivite (PSOE of Navarra), and the Centre d'Estudis i Desenvolupament Gabriel Alomar (PSOE of Baleares). In a similar situation were two entities linked to Ciudadanos (Catalonia Constitutional Association and Liberal Civic Foundation), the Eduardo Obregón Foundation (of the Regionalist Party of Cantabria), and the Horacio Fernández Inguanzo Foundation (of the PCE of Asturias).
Five foundations with negative equity
The report, collected by Europa Press, also details that there were five foundations with negative net assets, which the Court of Auditors, chaired by Enriqueta Chicano, urges to adjust their economic management and design a recovery plan.
At the head of this group is the Elkartu Foundation Society, linked to Eusko Alkartasuna, with a negative balance of 626,640.28 euros. Alongside it are the socialist Ramón Rubial (-30,107 euros), the Eduardo Obregón (-26,603 euros), the Carlos Chivite (-365.98 euros), and the Canary Foundation Center for Canary Studies of the 21st Century (-34 euros).
The document also mentions that the socialist Pablo Iglesias Foundation formalized in 2023 an agreement to renegotiate loans and contributions to the foundational endowment with the PSOE, totaling 2,554,556.80 euros. Thanks to this operation, it managed to correct its situation of asset imbalance, going from a negative net worth of 2,259,212.04 euros at the beginning of 2023 to a positive one of 257,277.22 euros at the end of the fiscal year.
Delays in the presentation of accounts and lack of registration
Among the main conclusions, the report emphasizes that only 15 of the 37 foundations and entities reviewed in 2023 submitted their annual accounts within the legal deadline. Another 18 submitted them late and four did not even manage to do so, which has prevented their auditing.
The Court of Auditors also highlights that only 22 entities were registered in the specific section of the Political Parties Register of the Ministry of the Interior, as required by the regulations. In light of this situation, it recommends that registration be a mandatory requirement to access public subsidies.
The audit estimates the total contributions and private donations received by these foundations in 2023 at 4.7 million euros, while public subsidies reached 2.1 million euros.
In general, the Court of Auditors verifies compliance with "the accounting regularity of contributions and donations," as well "as the limits and requirements established." However, it detects in some cases, both in private donations and public subsidies, violations of the regulations and expenses that are not eligible for subsidies.
In these cases, the auditing body will communicate the incidents to the administrations that granted the aid, so that they may initiate, if applicable, the corresponding reimbursement procedure.
Deficiencies in transparency and new recommendations
In terms of transparency, the report notes that 14 foundations and political entities had not published their annual accounts for 2023 or the conclusions of the audit report on their website, thus failing to comply with current legal obligations.
The document includes a total of seven recommendations. Among them, it proposes setting a minimum income threshold above which foundations and entities linked to parties must undergo mandatory external auditing and submit it to the Court of Auditors. It also suggests establishing a minimum amount above which donations from legal entities must be reported mandatorily, and reminds of the need for these entities to align their activities with the fulfillment of their foundational purposes.