The result of the Galician elections is not irrelevant. Obviously, it is not for Galicia, which has made, freely and democratically, the decision that seemed most convenient about how and by whom it wants to be governed for the next four years. But the results are also projected to the whole of Spain, since the elections have been preceded by a campaign in which many extra-autonomous issues have had a prominent presence.
However, at the outset, it is worth highlighting the success of the PP. He has once again won decisively, with an absolute majority supported by a government action that Galician citizens share and approve. This, in itself, is very significant; Winning from the government is not always easy and when it is it means that things have been done well. The victory of the PP has a Galician accent; It does not seem coherent to make a Spanish reading. The results from four years ago have been repeated, at a time when the Spanish situation was different. Now, it has been won because it has been governed well; What happens in Madrid has had nothing – or very little – to do with it.
In Galicia the existence of two large blocks has been revealed: that of the PP and that of the others. As for many years. With only one important difference: the BNG has consolidated itself as a decisive force in Galicianism. While the PSOE talked about what is happening in Spain, the BNG has dedicated its campaign time to talking about Galicia. With a progressive vision, but from Galicia. And many voters, tired of seeing themselves considered as the simple scene of someone else’s confrontation, have preferred Galicia. In a way, these elections have been won by Galicia.
And the PSOE will have to reflect, a lot. First of all, you should take note that your government partners, Sumar and Podemos, are straining the coalition for the benefit of who knows what. They criticize what they themselves do, weaken the PSOE and do not benefit from it. With a poorly founded message they do not penetrate the social reality of Galicia or many other places in Spain. They have every right to do so; This is an expression of freedom. But a government is not a laboratory for experiments. At first, the adventure may be interesting; When insistence does not translate into reality, fashion passes. Now, the PSOE has also paid for its failure. It is one thing to share an endowment; another, sharing a government action.
The BNG has occupied a good part of the space of the PSOE. He has intelligently benefited from their collaboration, without committing to a government style or action. The objective was Galicia and it has served it with consistency and tenacity. In fact, during the electoral campaign, the PSOE insisted on presenting the BNG as the reference partner. And the people accepted it and preferred to vote for the teacher instead of the disciple.
It is true that everything remains very the same. Two stabilized blocs, with a different composition in the so-called progressive bloc. But there is no mistake. Not everything is the same; There are differences that are projected to Spain as a whole. The perception of a very radically confronted Spain does not seem to have been reflected in this result. More participation, one more point of pluralism, little echo of the drama that some have wanted to introduce. A government in Madrid that shows its fragility, pressured by conditions that creak. Here, too, everything is the same, but more obvious. What is there to do? At the very least, accept the lessons that reality imposes. That not everything is the same!