Cantabria, the land of former presidents without salaries or honors

In July, the Community of Madrid turned Cantabria into a very unique political territory. The approval of the Madrid law regulating the status of former regional president left the northern region as the only territory where its former heads of government legally no longer exist. They can remain in politics, holding a seat or in their party. But the status of former president of Cantabria is a moral authority. At most.

Cantabria and the autonomous cities aside, the various laws regulating the status of former regional presidents share formal recognition and differ in their economic and political treatment. Catalonia, for example, grants former presidents 80% of the current president's salary (for a limited period, of course) and the right to a lifetime pension starting at age 65, "equal to 60% of the monthly salary corresponding to the term of office of president of the Generalitat."

Former presidents of Madrid are entitled to a 24-month payment identical to that established for ministers.

This retirement model, by the way, is identical to the Andalusian one, which also legislates a pension starting at age 65 equivalent to 60% of what the head of the regional government earns. Former Lehendakaris also have their retirement pensions recognized. Starting at age 65, the Basque Government supplements their pension until it equals half of what their successor earns. Meanwhile, La Rioja pays its former presidents the equivalent of 45 days per year worked, up to a maximum of four years.

Former Extremaduran presidents also receive a pension, in this case called an allowance, which does not require retirement and is equivalent to 80% of the current president's salary. In Navarre, former presidents are forced to pull out a calculator. The law grants former regional presidents a benefit upon their retirement, "the amount of which will be equal to one-twelfth of 80% of the total annual salary they were receiving at the time of their retirement," the law states.

Galicia, for its part, compensates former presidents of the Xunta (regional government) for two years with 60% of the salary received by the current president. The recent regulation in the Community of Madrid has also opted for compensation for the 24 months following leaving office. What's unique is the way the amount is calculated. Former heads of government in Madrid are entitled to receive a monthly payment identical to that established for ministers in state regulations after leaving office.

Aragon and the Principality of Asturias are somewhere in the middle, providing their former heads of government with material means—office, car, security, etc.—to dignify their positions.

From there, the compensation offered by the rest of the autonomous regions is honorary, based on protocol, and treatment, although some also include irregular remuneration. For example, the allowances and recognitions assigned to the advisory councils of former presidents, which, with different regulations, names, and forms, are held by politicians who have served as presidents of the Canary Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, and the Valencian Community. This body also exists in Galicia and Andalusia, but not in the Balearic Islands and the Region of Murcia, whose legislation recognizes former presidents with a title—Excellency in the case of Murcia, Most Honorable in the case of the islands—and the "honorary and protocolary" courtesies associated with their treatment.

And Cantabria? Not even that. Even the minimal honors accorded former presidents of Murcia and the Balearic Islands are derived from a legal text that doesn't exist in Santander. The Cantabrian government doesn't plan to regulate this figure or establish a council of former presidents, a secondary way of adding luster to the position. The formal honor is, in any case, left to the cordiality of the government in power. For the purposes of the law, a former president of Cantabria is merely a citizen. Nothing more, nothing less.