Balearic Islands: ability to reach an agreement with the PP
This is not an economics article. It's about politics. And we must talk about it, because if we don't resolve the current political mess together, economic prosperity will not reach the Islands and will not be able to foster sustainability, social cohesion, or the living conditions of citizens. Therefore, we need politics, but not the kind we suffer from the two major Spanish nationalist parties, some critical and others cynical, accusing each other of corruption and always subservient to an interest they consider superior to that which calls voters to elect their representatives.
Spanish political disenchantment is, today, widespread. It only remained for the man who displayed the honesty of its founder, Pablo Iglesias, to be also exposed. Regarding the other party, there's nothing to add; we've already seen them of all stripes in the Balearic Islands. The problem lies, in my opinion, in the Spanish electoral system, and in political parties that operate with closed lists, obeying their leaders under the state's command. Parties that, from time to time, shamelessly make elected representatives. With no relationship between elected representative and voter, these candidates represent their party, not the population that elects them. This distance makes them believe that once they have a seat, they can serve their masters or go it alone. And since political life is short, they try to take full advantage of the situation, in case they are not called back by whoever is in charge; the voters wouldn't call them either. As that PP activist said, in these circumstances, people go into politics to get rich.
This way of doing things contrasts with what is more likely to happen to parties of local obedience, where individuals are presented with an earned and known reputation, which they will want to maintain. The votes will be more theirs than those of the person who puts them on the list. And, in any case, their influence will be limited, with little to share to satisfy excessive ambitions. There may, of course, be some contrary cases (remember the president of the Unió Mallorquina), but it's unlikely; the chance of detection is high, and the reward available is low.
Hence the merit of participation channeled through small local and regional parties, closer to the citizens and with scrutinizable candidates. Their role can only be, predictably, pivotal, since they will never have the means of influence of the large state parties, well protected in business lobbies, nor with pretensions of "fixing the world." That is why these parties require more flexibility than ideological doctrinarism, serving, as they should, local, concrete, more mediated interests, less susceptible to being cornered by supposedly higher, diffuse interests.
What our island society, our economy, our community need today is for the island nationalist center and left not to leave the defense of the country in the hands of conservatives and Spanish socialism. Today, the PP government, without a sufficient majority, is being dragged down by a radical Francoist far-right, for whom we don't exist as islanders, but as Spaniards scattered across the Balearic Islands and grafted on by transients who don't always love the host society enough.
Given how our society is evolving—driven, among other factors, by growing immigration—it will probably never again be the case that a nationalist party, in the sense of one that aspires to put the will of the Islands above other interests, will dominate the Balearic Parliament. This is particularly the case with the sovereignist nationalism of Més, of the former PSMs of the Islands, or the PI (currently extraparliamentary), or the former Unió Mallorquina, which needs a refoundation—both formations are stagnant or experiencing a decline in electoral support. Their role can only be that of a pivot, as is that of so many other regional parties, pro-independence or not, in different countries. But they should be able to do so not only by embracing the Socialists, but also by negotiating with the PP. Therefore, I am convinced that Més and PI must soften their political positions, abandoning a certain radicalism, perceived as dogmatic, in favor of more liberal visions that also bring them closer to the PP. It's necessary for these parties—joined, initially, on a single platform—to be able to reach agreements with the right. And this for several reasons. First, because the PP, despite its prevalence, doesn't have a sufficient, consolidated majority without the crutch of Vox. And Vox, from its minority, is the real danger to the effective construction of an island identity. An identity to be built from the territory and from culture, including Catalan, which the old PP always accepted and is only now, forced by pacts, driving away. Language is the cornerstone of esteem for our soul as a country: what Vox hates most. Furthermore, the Balearic PP, regardless of its current drift—precisely forced by the Spanish nationalist far right—has solid traditions that are much more open, due to their liberal nature, than the current ones. These are traditions damaged today by Genoa, in the central battle against the Socialists. And secondly, I think it's naive to expect the most distinctive aspects of our culture and the island's economic interests to be well protected if they depend solely on the support that, in the unlikely future, the socialists will need.
