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A wave of resignations has swept through Spain\u2019s political class amid growing scrutiny over falsified academic credentials, affecting figures across the political spectrum and prompting calls for greater transparency.<\/p>\n
The controversy began on 21 July when Transport Minister Oscar Puente of the ruling Socialist Party raised questions about the academic record of Noelia Nunez, a lawmaker from the opposition conservative Popular Party (PP).<\/p>\n
Nunez, 33, had claimed degrees in law, public administration and English philology but later admitted she had studied the subjects without completing any of the qualifications.<\/p>\n
She resigned the following day, saying she had never intended to mislead the public.<\/p>\n
Since then, more politicians have come under fire for allegedly misrepresenting their educational backgrounds.<\/p>\n
Among them is Juan Manuel Moreno, PP president of the Andalusian regional government, who was accused of falsely claiming a business degree. Pilar Bernabe, the central government\u2019s delegate in Valencia, has been accused of inaccurately stating she held a communications degree.<\/p>\n
Puente himself has also come under scrutiny for referring to a master’s degree that reports say is of a lower academic level than implied.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Jose Maria Angel, a Socialist official overseeing flood recovery efforts in Valencia, stepped down after it emerged he had used a fake diploma to obtain a public sector job.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Ignacio Higuero, a minister in the regional government of Extremadura, resigned after reports revealed he had claimed a marketing degree from a university that did not offer the programme at the time.<\/p>\n
The growing scandal has triggered a broader national debate about political integrity and the need for verified academic qualifications for public officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Spain, we continue to suffer from a chronic ailment: titulitis, that obsession with accumulating degrees that, all too often, are nothing more than empty ornaments,\u201d historian Joaquim Coll wrote in the daily newspaper 20 Minutos.<\/p>\n
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