"Spain is a loser"
There are certainly many losing episodes in Spain's history, but far removed from them, Trump says that Spain is a loser because this is the language of bullies: if you don't do what they want, they insult you in a humiliating way.
When Trump says that "Spain is a loser," also translatable as a "failed" country, he's not displaying any knowledge of history, of the loss of Cuba, from whose national depression the Generation of '98 emerged, of the Civil War, of having a Spanish army that has fired more at Spaniards than at foreigners, of Spain's history of cultural repression. Far from it, Trump says that Spain is a loser because Sánchez opposes the war, because he doesn't want to spend 5% of GDP on defense, and because now he won't let him have the American bases in Andalusia without an international mandate. This is the language of bullies: if you don't do what they want, they insult you in a humiliating way. Nor is ally Giorgia Meloni letting Trump have the Italian bases.
By the way, Sánchez said "no to war" but Spain has sent a frigate to CyprusNot to wage war, but within the framework of a European Union mission to protect a European Union member state (but not a NATO member), as Italy, the Netherlands, Greece, France, and the United Kingdom have also done. Cyprus is facing Lebanon, which is now bombing Israel in pursuit of Hezbollah militias.
The point is that perhaps Sánchez's "No to war" this week is too blatant, because he's trying to reheat in the microwave of 2026 the authentic energy that united society in 2003. But Donald Trump is starting to appeal to pride. Sánchez himself spoke on Wednesday of the "pride of being Spanish." Defense Minister Margarita Robles said yesterday that as a Spaniard she cannot accept what Trump is saying about Spain. Now, to think that because Trump unites you, Sánchez can call early elections is a whole world away. In This analysis from Madrid, Núria Orriols Remember that, yes, polls say that 76% of Spaniards have a bad or very bad opinion of Donald Trump, and that almost 80% believe he is a danger to world peace. But, as the analysis concludes, the question is: "Will the average Spanish citizen go to vote thinking about Trump or about how hard it is to make ends meet?"
Good morning.
