Accomplished chess players, that sport where two adversaries wage war with no other weapons than tactics and intelligence, are obsessive and cerebral individuals who are part of a strange brotherhood. They are very similar to the political class, in the sense that they are not socially majority, they organize themselves in groups and practically do nothing other than think all the time about the perpetual battle they wage on the board. More than dilettantes, chess fans are fanatics devoted body and soul to their military.
Contrary to what happens in Spanish politics after the stormy investiture, in the different chess games and wars there are rules, limits and conditions for the contenders. Each figure can move in one way, but not another. Can a bishop become king? It depends on whether he has been (in a previous life) an elephant before.
This is the (metaphysical) mystery in which, once the new legislature in Madrid has begun, the PSOE is installed in Andalusia, which will have to deal with the contradiction (in its fatal case) of having to defend in the South of Spain the agreement between Pedro Sánchez, Sumar and the independentistas.
As in chess, not a single battle is fought on the board, but several at the same time. The Andalusian socialists have to defend their waning political position – greatly affected after the local elections – and, in parallel, deal with the institutional conflicts that will occur in the coming months between Moncloa and San Telmo over the amnesty, financing and alteration, through fait accompli, of the territorial model
All of these plots are carried out from a clearly defensive position. Since they lost regional power five years ago, their strategy has consisted of reducing damage (unsuccessfully) and trying to keep their towers (provincial and municipal) on the board. A few weeks ago Sánchez decided to appoint Juan Espadas, the general secretary of the Andalusian socialists, spokesperson for the PSOE in the Senate. His appointment has brought to light another latent dispute that needs to be resolved: the constant organic interim in the socialist federation with the most militants.
Swords is the bishop of this new game whose secret logic is still unknown. His apparent rise to national politics – without abandoning regional politics for the moment – ??can be interpreted either as an endorsement or a slow-motion farewell. Or both at the same time. The head of the PSOE in Andalusia, like a chess official, is what is known as a bishop: an average leader, without leadership or much charisma, whose political progression is due to his (blind) obedience to the corresponding authority. . Organic, of course.
The new socialist spokesperson in the Senate already embodied an elephant – the meaning of the Arabic term bishop – during his time as mayor of Seville, where he remained thanks to the support of Susana Díaz, whom he would end up facing in the 2021 primaries won by Ferraz . He did not mind betraying his mentor, who in turn had inherited him from José Antonio Viera, former head of the PSOE of Seville and convicted (as former Employment Minister) for the ERE scandal. He prospered, although the price to pay consisted of total submission to Madrid.
Two and a half years after his enthronement as ambassador of the Andalusian sanchistas, who have never considered him anything more than a useful instrument for their affairs, his departure to the Senate seems to confirm that his political cycle in Andalusia has entered the twilight phase. He, of course, denies it completely, knowing that in a federation as devilish as the Andalusian one, not managing internal power (even through delegation from Ferraz, as is his case) is absolute suicide in institutional terms.
His appointment as speaker in the Senate is a consolation prize. What Espadas aspired to was to be a minister, but he was never in Sánchez’s notebook. The Senate will allow him to have more public visibility (always relative) but not because in the medium or long term he will be – again – the socialist alternative to the president of the Board, but because, given the consolidation of Moreno Bonilla, the socialists are going to take a period of between two and three years to see how to recover the lost ground in the South. The elections in Catalonia, in which the PSC is the favorite, will increase the Catalan ascendancy within the PSOE. Ferraz knows that this situation may be temporary depending on how things go in Madrid and Barcelona. It is therefore advisable to achieve some kind of recovery in Andalusia.
Espadas served Sánchez to remove Susana Díaz from the board. Spot. Both the polls and the electoral setbacks have shown for months that his time in the Andalusian PSOE is destined to be a transition period, waiting to create a leadership that lasts. Ferraz has not forced his departure from Andalusian politics because he has a certain amount of time. In fact, she still lacks a different option than the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, who, although she has been working as a tutor for the Andalusian PSOE for years – in her capacity as deputy secretary of the federal leadership – is key in Sánchez’s executive. .
Forcing a replacement in the Andalusian PSOE without having a clear replacement would have been a bad idea. It would have forced the families of Andalusian socialism to compete with each other. They wanted to reward Espadas with a parliamentary atrium while looking for a candidate capable of fighting with Moreno Bonilla within three years. The name will have to come from Andalusia, where the socialists only retain two provincial councils (Jaén and Seville) after losing the city council of the capital as a result of the Espadas operation, which will insist on castled in the Andalusian seat at least until the European elections, when the contenders on the chess board meet again and it is revealed whether their replacement will be king or queen.
