And finally… dog days
A Spanish civil servant who was paid €50,000 a year for a job he failed to go to for more than a decade has been given a nine-year work ban.
Carles Recio, former head of Valencia’s Proceedings Archive, would clock in at his office at 7:30am every day, before leaving.
He would return at 4pm to ‘clock out’.
When he was caught he told TV channel La Sexta: “I’ve been working like a dog.”
“Working like a dog so that others can reap the rewards of my work.”
Recio said he undertook all of his duties outside of the office – but there is no record of any work.
A Valencia court ultimately found him guilty of “clearly intending to not go to work and carry out his work duties for a continued period of time”.
Judges also criticised Valencia’s council for failing to act on Recio’s absenteeism.
As a result, he has not been banned for life from holding public office and could return to work in nine years.