Aside from the fact that it's always disappointing to hear politicians bickering while major disasters occur, the muted political crisis that has erupted around this summer's—horrific—fires on the Iberian Peninsula is indicative of the direction public debate will take in the new course of Spanish politics. The context, which we know well enough, was summed up by José María Aznar with his call for the siege and demolition of the government led by Pedro Sánchez: "Whoever can do something, let them do it." That's where we're coming from, from a permanent campaign to derail the left-wing coalition government that was re-established following the results of the July 2023 elections. A relentless campaign in which literally anything has been allowed, from the construction and staunch defense of lies that always tend to exploit the fears of political adversaries, to the erosion of institutions and even the constitutional order, when the PP and Vox don't buy into their narratives of fear and hate. The catalyst for all this, of course, is Pedro Sánchez himself, who has been transformed into a monster in the style of those represented in the past by Puigdemont, Otegi, Junqueras, Carod-Rovira, and Arzalluz, to name a few. What's new is that, for the first time, a Spanish president is being pilloried so that anyone who dares can denigrate him.
Everything indicates that the next academic year will follow this same path, only amplified and multiplied by the nationalist right's urgency (financial urgency, first and foremost) to establish itself in the grand scheme of things, the power that moves from the Moncloa Palace. That's why I wrote earlier that the confrontation over the summer fires has been "muted," because it will seem insignificant compared to the stridency that will predictably await us when the academic year begins again. Of course, the PSOE significantly aggravates matters when corruption cases are uncovered from within its leadership, or when it simply tries to compete with the PP in the war of the dossiers, which ends up greatly benefiting, first and foremost, Vox: the fascist party's electoral prospects are very good, despite the complete incompetence demonstrated so far by the PP in its municipal and regional offices.
The fires are, we said, a good example of this trend: indeed, the powers to prevent and combat them fall under the jurisdiction of the autonomous communities; and, indeed, the PP and Vox governments have cut the funds allocated to this, among other reasons, due to their climate denialism. But this is unimportant; reality is unimportant. It only has a lying and nauseating narrative, in which, judging by the material circulating on social media, Sánchez's physical and mental health will soon also be called into question. They think it's time for the final assault, and they'll put all their meat—all their shit—on the grill.
