Description
THE CITY OF EUPHORIA
Book Summary
A comprehensive and dizzying chronicle of the gears of political corruption in the Valencian Community. Journalist Rodrigo Terrasa reconstructs, with the pace of a thriller and the tone of a farce, how a web of power, money, and institutional complicity turned the region into a laboratory of impunity. The reader will find a documented account that breaks down the most emblematic cases, the characters involved, and the atmosphere of collective euphoria that normalized the abuse. More than a standard report, it is an immersion into the psychology of a system where the party seemed never to end.
What is it about?
The book starts with a popular premise: corruption was like paella—it was made everywhere, but nowhere like it was in Valencia. From there, Rodrigo Terrasa unravels the tangle of scandals that splashed the Valencian political class for years, from minor cases to plots of illegal financing and personal enrichment. The work does not limit itself to listing crimes; it analyzes the social and media context that allowed public perception to remain favorable to the prevailing model. The author shows how, during the economic boom, waste and perks were justified as generators of wealth and employment, while the justice system moved at a much slower pace than the luxury cars of the accused. The result is a choral, tragicomic, and chilling portrait of a community trapped in its own bubble of impunity.
Main themes
- Political corruption and illegal party financing.
- Complicity between political, economic, and media powers.
- Social normalization of corruption in times of prosperity.
- Judicial impunity and the slowness of proceedings.
- Psychology of power and the culture of institutional waste.
Who is it recommended for?
For readers interested in investigative journalism, political chronicles, and non-fiction reporting with a narrative pace. Also for those seeking to understand the deep mechanisms of systemic corruption beyond the headlines, as well as for those who wish to learn about a key episode in the recent history of the Valencian Community and its national implications.
What this book offers
- A detailed and documented analysis of the most representative corruption cases in the Valencian landscape.
- A perspective that connects criminal acts with the social, media, and economic context that made them possible.
- A journalistic account that combines informative rigor with an agile narrative, close to a thriller and a farce.
- A reflection on impunity and the public perception of corruption as a lesser evil or even a collective benefit.
- Keys to understanding the political and judicial evolution of the Valencian Community in recent decades.
Technical details
- Author: Rodrigo Terrasa
- Publisher: Libros del K.O, S.L.L
- Language: Spanish
- Subject: Reportage and collection of journalistic articles, political corruption
- Collection: Narrative
- Binding: Paperback
- Publication date: October 2021
- Number of pages: 300
- Weight: 547 g
Editorial review
A work of narrative journalism that manages to turn a complex and often dry subject into an absorbing read. Terrasa demonstrates a deep knowledge of the terrain and sources, and his ability to weave the facts together with a style that oscillates between the harshness of reporting and the irony of farce makes this a reference title for those who want to understand the mechanics of political corruption in Spain. Its value lies in the honesty with which he portrays both the protagonists and the environment that sustained them, without falling into simplification or propaganda. A necessary book to contextualize a phenomenon that marked an era.