Eideard

So, I said – Bring the car. We’ll have a good time. Do a little sightseeing.
Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission

Germany’s Social Democrat health minister came under pressure Sunday to explain why she took her official limousine, complete with chauffeur, to Spain where the vehicle was stolen.

Thieves stole the keys from the chauffeur’s accommodation near Alicante, a ministry spokeswoman said on Saturday, adding Ulla Schmidt had used the Mercedes for official meetings to discuss healthcare and pensions with Germans who had retired to Spain.

German media reported that Schmidt had paid for her own flight to Alicante, where she was also taking a holiday, but a driver had brought over her limousine to Spain from Berlin.

“I would like to know which of Mrs Schmidt’s appointments required an official car and chauffeur in Alicante and why it was not possible for the embassy to arrange transportation,” Otto Fricke, an opposition Free Democrat, told Bild am Sonntag.

Greens budget expert Alexander Bonde told the Saarbruecker Zeitung: “Why does the minister need an armored limousine in Spain? The budget committee will insist that just referring to official appointments is insufficient and implausible.”

Doesn’t anyone in the German press have as cynical an outlook as mine?

How close was the minister’s accommodation – to the chauffeur’s, eh? Connecting doors?