Spain, with no remedy in sight

On the night of July 23, people shouted “Que te vote Txapote!” on Calle Génova! and Ferraz street “They won't pass!”. Two disgusting bellows, which refer to the most sinister episodes in the modern history of Spain. In the first case, to the terrorism of ETA. In the second, to the Civil War. The chilling thing is that this occurred in front of the headquarters of the two parties that, presumably, represent constitutional centrality, have received the support of 70% of the Spaniards who voted (16 million between the two!) and bring together 80% of the newly elected congressmen. Worse still, no leader made the slightest gesture of disgust at the stupidity of his hosts, nor made a move to stop the uncivil spectacle.. To such an extent they seemed pleased by what their madmen howled that it would be said that the riot had been organized by themselves or their hitmen.

For the forgetful: Txapote is the nom de guerre of the murderer of Miguel Ángel Blanco and of at least 12 other people, among them, as co-participants, Gregorio Ordóñez and Fernando Múgica. “Let Txapote vote for you” is equivalent to equating, in the moral order, the current leaders of the Socialist Party with a serial killer.

“They will not pass” is the cry popularized by La Pasionaria in 1937 to encourage the militiamen who defended Madrid from the siege of Franco's troops. Those who shouted it in Ferraz equated, in the political order, the Popular Party with the coup army of 86 years ago.

Death, blood and hate in abundance. If Sánchez blamed the right for Spain to go back half a century (exactly to 1973, with Carrero exercising the power delegated by the dictator), how far has he taken us back with his Civil War slogans, to the revengeful pride for the worst massacre in our history? What kind of insanity has seized the Spanish political leaders? With moderates like these, why do we need extremists?

I refuse to believe that 16 million Spaniards share that schismatic and cerril spirit of the parties they voted for. I refuse to assume that the seven and a half million people who voted for the PSOE see Feijóo and his party as a group of fascists willing to liquidate democracy; and I refuse to accept that the eight million voters of the PP really believe that Sánchez and the socialists who support him belong to the same breed as the gunmen of a murderous gang. If that were the case, coexistence on the streets of Spain would be impossible, and it is not..

The two Spains that Machado cried have been resurrected, but with another formula: there is a Spain of citizens as opposed to that of politicians. The first one just wants to live in freedom and in peace, without yelling at her neighbor in the elevator “That I vote for you Txapote” or “You won't pass”. The second, that of the laboratories of power, inoculates society with massive doses of enmity and resentment.. It is useless to exchange accusations of Trumpism: in this campaign, everyone has been Trump. The only difference is that some have been more effective Trump supporters and that is why they have won by losing, just like Trump did in 2016..

The vote on July 23 definitively solidifies a politically binary Spain. Do not waste time counting right or left, moderate or exalted, constitutional or anti-constitutional: in both blocs there are abundant and intermingled examples of all these categories. In the bloc led by Sánchez there are moderates (oh, fewer and fewer) and extremists, there are nostalgic for social democracy, populists, communists and separatists, there are people who still feel some appreciation for the rule of law and suffer for it and proliferate those who despise it and enjoy destroying it, there are sincere Spaniards and equally sincere anti-Spanish. The path by which they have all ended up together will have to be explained to us by the historians of the future.

In the bloc led by Feijóo there are social-liberals and pure liberals, conservatives, a good dose of the new anarchist right, all of them democrats as genuine as those that can be found in the self-styled “progressive” trench; and, apparently together with them, vociferous expressions from the carpetovetonic cavern, heirs of the trabucaire priests of the 19th century, withered branches of Spanish reactionary thought and followers of contemporary national-populism. Those from that block still don't know why the hell they're together, that's why they publicly abhor each other in the mornings and have sex in the afternoons.

Block against block, the numbers of this election are clear. There are 12.3 million in the Sanchista bloc and 11.3 million in the right-wing bloc. When Sánchez boasted on Ferraz's balcony that “there are many more of us”, he was obviously not referring to his party. PSOE voters barely represent 60% of the power bloc with which it is preparing to govern for another four years. The rest is provided by the amalgamation of left-wing populists, orthodox communists, and nationalists of all ideological stripes that already operates, in effect, as a stable consortium..

Seen this way, it is true that there are more, although not “many more”, the Spaniards who prefer this political condominium to those who prefer the association of the traditional right with the extreme right. Sánchez set up his strategy of conquest and conservation of power years ago based on this calculation years ago—probably influenced by Iglesias: the grouping of the entire left with all the divisive nationalisms would be arithmetically unbeatable and would block the path to the right for decades.. A kind of pact from Tinell to the beast. To do this, he did not hesitate to strip the Socialist Party of several of its most valuable attributes: the autonomy of its political project, the vocation of the majority, the attachment to a reformism firmly anchored in the spirit and letter of the Constitution and the will to to structure Spain instead of adding to its disintegration.

On this occasion, for the founding strategic assumption of the Sanchista movement to be verified once again, it has been necessary for the PP, with everything in its favor, to carry out its worst electoral campaign since the days of Fraga and for Vox to work, as it always does , in its true endeavor, which is to liquidate the traditional center-right and seize the hegemony of everything that is not left, following in the footsteps of Le Pen, although in a more incompetent and shady way..

The Popular Party is called upon to make a long-range strategic decision: what to do with Vox. You can metabolize it as a necessary branch, as Sánchez has done first with Podemos and then with Sumar, or you can fight it until the Aznarista project of the big house of the right is restored, the only one that has allowed the PP to govern in Spain. What you cannot do is do both things at the same time and pretend that society understands you..

If you choose the first plan, there are more suitable people in the PP than Feijóo to carry it out. If it is the second, you have to define the playing field and transmit it much more clearly than in this disastrous campaign, in which it has never been known if the favorite was with mushrooms or with Rolex.

With this Congress of Deputies, Alberto Núñez Feijóo cannot be elected President of the Government and, even if he could, he should not do so. He would live the entire legislature harassed by his traveling companion, in a perpetual parliamentary minority, unable to carry out a bill or a budget and with a scorched-earth opposition in Congress and on the streets.. However, he has a legitimate right to present his program at an investiture session, unless Sánchez proves to the King that he has a sufficient majority (which he will not be able to do, because at least three of his essential partners will avoid visiting the head of the State).

It is probable that, beyond the demoscopic mirages, on May 29 Feijóo had within his reach the 160 seats he was looking for. The review of the journey traveled in two fateful months until the 136 that he finally obtained is left for his reflection. It may be that regional greed and strategic laziness have cost the PP leader Moncloa. Winning a debate is not enough to win an election.

With this Congress, Sánchez can be elected president. In my opinion, it shouldn't either, although I have no doubt that it will, paying the necessary bill, however astronomical it may be.. Governing for another four years with such a courtship (up to 19 parties, each one with its claim sheet), with a very high degree of accumulated personal discredit, with all the circuits of understanding with the opposition nipped at the root, with territorial power and the Senate against and an inevitable program ahead of a return to economic orthodoxy, all with support so fragile that not even a flight can be allowed, it cannot be a reasonable government plan for those who think of something other than themselves.

Does this mean that society must be violated by demanding that it vote again? Not at all, that is the worst of tragedies in a healthy democracy, although here we have made it a habit. Besides, it's doubtful it would do any good..

It means that we are taking a long time to find a Mario Draghi who will reestablish the space for consensus and, with the concerted support of a broad majority from which only those who exclude themselves are excluded, take Spanish politics out of the swamp for at least a while.

Something very bad, and perhaps hopeless, happens to a country when all sensible governance plans are dismissed outright as impossible.. The immediate question is who and why has made them impossible, because everything that depends solely on human will and also coincides with what reason dictates and what the vast majority want should be possible..

It is impossible, for example, for me to be 20 again. Which is why I reread with increasing attention the article by my friend Zarzalejos after the night of July 23.