Contagious demagoguery
The joke of the moment: President Díaz Ayuso declares Madrid a “free territory of nationalisms and identity ideologies”, “the most heterogeneous region that exists because it is made up of all forms of being Spanish”. It sounded like a reverberation of one of Francoism's slogans: “España, una, grande y libre”, now concentrated in the capital.
Certainly, it is not new. Ayuso has long been exporting her jingoistic exaltation. In fact, in February she had already heated up the atmosphere with her video participation in an event at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump's residence – quite a role model for the Madrid president –, where she equated Claudia Sheinbaum's Mexican government with the Cuban dictatorship. Now, having landed in Mexico ("Méjico", according to her) to honor the conqueror Hernán Cortés, her speeches have caused the suspension of the planned religious ceremony due to the politicization of the event. She has nine more days of travel to continue building her ineffable persona, an expression of dependence on her own ego rather than a party (the PP in this case) or a political ideology.
Ayuso's amalgam, trying to make believe that everything fits in her basket, when we all know her limitations, has little strategic scope outside of Madrid, but it adds material to the reactionary wave that threatens everywhere and of which the ARA survey bore witness. Aliança Catalana already surpasses Junts in voting intention. That is to say, the extreme right – here, as everywhere; in this we are no different – is cornering the Catalan right. It is true that Vox is also pressuring the PP and that, in France, to give another example, Rassemblement National is causing the dispersion of the French right. But misery loves company. Each case has its characteristics, but there is one thing in common: the extreme right makes itself heard more than a complacent and worn-out right. And they impudently play with the difficulty of conservative parties in finding answers to two key issues: housing and immigration.
The extreme right resorts unscrupulously to demagoguery. Most have not governed and, therefore, do not carry the burden of unresolved problems. They substitute responsibility for demagoguery, which is their natural state. They can sell any story to voters, especially those who feel abandoned. And, incidentally, they bring out latent identity and authoritarian impulses, as Ayuso does.
The dependence on Puigdemont, a worn-out figure who continues to operate through appearances – although he is seen less and less – from exile, when all the leaders of the Procés have been back for a long time, and who is increasingly detached from reality with each passing day, is taking its toll on Jordi Pujol's heirs, who were supposed to be the conservative national axis of Catalan democracy and are only becoming more blurred. And this, at a critical moment for democracy. Not only is Aliança devouring Junts, but in Catalonia, as in Spain, Vox is also biting the PP. And the right, instead of reacting, is cheating. The case of Feijóo is pathetic: stubbornly, with no other recourse than to verbally attack Sánchez, incapable of building a differential discourse. Could it be that we are already entering the capitulation of the right in the face of neofascism, like half of Europe? Let them look at the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who seems to be starting to wake up.
In short, a disturbing piece of data to complete this series of warnings: 23% of Vox voters – Hispanic neofascism – would opt for Silvia Orriols – Catalan neofascism – if it were a more useful vote for the fight against immigration, which is currently the preferred space for deploying demagoguery. Beware of opting for prudence out of convenience. Democratic parties cannot pretend not to hear the authoritarian noise. It is contagious.