Transparency
Spain finally falls into line
16 August 2010
Presseurop
El País 
El País, 16 August 2010
In its enthusiastic report on a law to "regulate citizens’ right to know", El País welcomes new legislation on transparency and citizens’ access to information, which will be presented for preliminary approval to the Spanish parliament next Friday. The daily hails that "for the first time in Spain, the law will recognise the right of citizens to access public documents" produced by government and by private individuals conducting public service missions. Once the bill has been passed, Spain will fall into line with "a majority of European countries" that have already adopted transparency laws in accordance with the provisions of the Council of Europe’s Convention on Access to Official Documents signed in 2008.
As Greece pimps its ancient monuments to bring in the tourists, lovers of cultural heritage are up in arms. But the country is only doing openly what the whole of Europe is: looting historic sites to drum up more ready cash. 
Asserting national values is central to the political project of the Hungarian PM. Since the start of the year, fifteen paintings, specially commissioned for an exhibition in the Castle of Buda, have been putting this ambition on show. 
The game has gone on for nearly two years: Athens pretends to comply with the demands of its creditors and partners, and they pretend to believe in Greece’s commitments. As the spectre of default comes nearer, however, the Greek bluff cannot go on much longer, writes an El Mundo editorialist.