Pedro Sánchez has been elected President of the Government at around 1:30 p.m. As planned a few days ago: 179 votes in favor, 171 votes against, in the first vote. Canarian Coalition, as La Vanguardia announced at the time, has joined the majority bloc, abandoning Alberto Núñez Feijóo, whom it supported in his failed investiture (September) and in the Congressional Board vote (August). Absolute majority in the first vote. It is a result that no Democrat can question. A legitimate president. A legitimate government. A legitimate Parliament.
While Sánchez was applauded by his people, the leader of the main opposition party approached the blue bench to shake the hand of the re-elected president. It was a fleeting, electric moment, of enormous coldness on both of their faces, a moment devoured by a cloud of photographers. I watched the sequence from the press gallery and it caught my attention. Núñez Feijóo was looking for an image, a photograph. Upon seeing him, the president extended his hand and they greeted each other very briefly. Later, Núñez Feijóo himself told the press that he told him the following: “This is a mistake and you will be responsible.” Words that the photographers could hardly hear, since they were very busy capturing the moment. Image and word. Word and image. Inaudible words that must be explained or intuited. That is a sign of these days.
I can certify that Núñez Feijóo was looking for a minimally friendly image. I saw it on his face as he approached, somewhat cautiously, the blue bench. An image of courtesy, which he had to justify with words in line with the political harshness of the moment. I think he has acted with political intelligence. He has moved away from the fruit basket, not even a step. He has gesturally recognized Sánchez as the legitimate president of the Government. In the current circumstances that is important.
Fruit has become synonymous with verbal aggression these days. The anecdote is known. On Monday afternoon, Isabel Díaz Ayuso called Sánchez a “son of a bitch” from the guest gallery, when the socialist candidate referred to the past accusations of corruption against the president of the Community of Madrid and her brother Tomás, an accusation that arose from the PP itself and that ended up causing the fall of Pablo Casado in March 2022.
Díaz Ayuso mumbled those words, the movement of her lips was recorded on a video, and her press office tried to close the issue by explaining, ironically, that the Madrid president had said “I like fruit.” They later confirmed that, indeed, she had said “son of a bitch.” This morning there were jokes in the Madrid Assembly regarding fruit. Díaz Ayuso has repeated several times that he likes fruit. The traditional populism that governs Madrid DF has launched a new product on the market of political anger: “I like fruit.” Well, what Núñez Feijóo did today, tense, saddened, reticent, was to move away from the fruit bowl, not even a step.
Will the tension decrease? No. Political tension is going to remain high in that country in the coming months, for two reasons: that is the tone of the time and there are three electoral events on the horizon. Before the summer, regional elections will be held in the Basque Country and Galicia, and there will also be elections for the renewal of the European Parliament. The Basque and Galician elections, which do not yet have a date, will be a partial test of notable political interest. In Galicia the absolute majority of the Popular Party will be tested. In the Basque Country we will see the degree of support for the government coalition formed by the Basque Nationalist Party and the Socialist Party of Euskadi. The dream of the PP in the Basque Country would be to ensure that its votes were necessary for governability. The European elections do have a date: June 9, 2024. They will be a general political examination. A revalidation. A moment to verify the relationship of forces. With these three elections on the agenda, a relaxation of Spanish politics is completely impossible.
More tension? The question should be: Who will benefit from so much tension from now on? To the extreme right. Today, Núñez Feijóo wanted to distance himself a little from the fruit bowl. A bit. The Spanish like fruit, but not rotten fruit, which can cause indigestion.
Reflecting on what has happened these days will take us weeks. We have just experienced a political episode full of tension. The institutions have worked and nothing has prevented the proper functioning of the parliamentary mechanics. Some deputies on the left feared that some deputies on the right would try to boycott the vote with noise that would make the oral vote inaudible. None of that has happened. Things couldn’t go that far.
There have been maneuvers, however, to try to prevent Sánchez’s investiture. The most serious, without a doubt, occurred a week ago, on Thursday, November 9, after a gunman tried to kill former politician Alejo Vidal-Quadras, founder of Vox and former president of the Party, on Núñez de Balboa Street in Madrid. Popular in Catalonia. A reflex movement by the victim surely saved his life. He was shot in the face and the bullet eventually passed through his jaw. Minutes after the news circulated, someone began to spread the incendiary hastag Calvo Sotelo on social media.
Let us remember that the attack occurred while Carles Puigdemont was explaining the pact between Junts and the PSOE from Brussels. Immediately after news of what happened on Núñez Balboa Street began to circulate, someone launched a propaganda campaign to blame the left for the assassination attempt. After a few hours, the Ministry of the Interior reported that Vidal-Quadras, seriously injured but conscious, had conveyed to the Police (perhaps in writing) that the perpetrators of the attack could be related to Iran. It is known that Vox received financial aid in its initial moments from an Iranian opposition group in exile, opposed to the religious regime. What would have happened a week ago, if Vidal-Quadras had not been able to save his life and the Calvo Sotelo slogan had taken hold?
We have lived through dangerous days, of which we still do not know all the details. We have to be aware of this. They have been days of poisoned fruit.