Spain’s defence chief resigns amid mounting anger over COVID-19 vaccine theft
Spain’s Chief of Staff General Miguel Angel Villarroya resigned this weekend as anger mounts among workers at Spanish generals, royalty and politicians who obtained COVID-19 vaccines without medical justification. Vaccines are now suddenly and inexplicably running out for front-line health workers.
On Friday,
El Confidencial Digital leaked that Villarroya and several other top officers recently received the first dose of the vaccine out of turn, skipping protocols. Villarroya resigned Saturday.
It is the first time a chief of staff has resigned since the position was created in 1984. In a statement Saturday, the Socialist Party (PSOE)-Podemos government’s Ministry of Defence defended Villaroya, saying he “never intended to take advantage of unjustifiable privileges which damaged the image of the Armed Forces and cast doubt on the general’s honour.” It cynically added that Villaroya “took decisions he thought to be correct” but which “damaged the public image of the Armed Forces.”