The Catalan exception
Everything suggests that Catalonia will again set itself apart. The election results here will have little to do with those of Spain as a whole, probably with the exception of the Basque Country. There is no epic here of an absolute majority or a comeback, simply the logic of the useful vote. Everything points to the PSC being the most voted because, in the face of danger, the citizens' pragmatism will allow it to attract votes from electors who do not vote for them in the Catalan elections and who, in another political climate, would not have done so now either. But the wave of post-democratic authoritarianism is becoming evident throughout Europe and the Spanish right is joining in without hesitation.
The reactionary involution is therefore reaching Spain and Vox and the PP have rushed to make it their own. And what is pathetic is that it arrives precisely when American citizens have blown up Trump's hegemony with a resounding defeat of a president ridiculously convinced that everything was permitted to him. It seemed that post-democratic authoritarianism was unstoppable and signs of capitulation were multiplying in Europe. And suddenly, after six years of Trump flaunting his insolence, the American citizenry erupts and leaves the president against the ropes.
Curiously, when Americans seem to be liberating themselves, Spain, which had distanced itself from Trumpism, is entering a phase of reactionary restoration. Sánchez's wear and tear is notorious and the right has unleashed its authoritarian impulses, without even bothering to maintain appearances. The PP has gone looking for Vox, the extreme right, and the two partners have unashamedly deployed an alliance increasingly marked by the demands of Abascal and company. The surprise in Catalonia is Aliança Catalana's decision to avoid the fight. Turning one's back on Spain may have a sense of patriotic emancipation, but I fear that in this case it may have a perverse effect: that Vox takes advantage of Orriols' resignation and makes inroads here; after all, she and Abascal have been hinting at each other for some time. Fascism overflows homelands. An absence that is understood even less at a time when Junts, stuck in the outcome of the Puigdemont case, is fumbling in the dark. And the one who capitalizes on this is Esquerra Republicana.
In any case, if, as the polls say, the PP-Vox tandem wins, the map of Spain will have a fairly homogeneous coloring, with two focal points of exception: Catalonia and the Basque Country. As always.
