The weekly The Economist, with a hard-won reputation for rigor and liberalism, also excels – like The New Yorker or Libération– on its covers. A few years ago, one was dedicated to Prime Minister Tony Blair, who had just arrived at Downing Street, asking: "Is Bambi a carnivore?”. Over the years and the Iraq War, the British Labourite proved to be not only a carnivore but also an anthropophage.
Today, Spain wonders if another prime minister with blue eyes and a pleasant demeanor has also turned out to be a predator. The answer is not clear. But the truth may be unnecessary when the pack gets going, and the fact is that, for a good part of the Madrid media, the verification of facts is today totally dispensable.
At the current stage of the case, the conclusions would not be so politically devastating if it weren't for some flashy jewels valued at over a million euros that allow for a swift public trial. Aware of the effect of necklaces on public opinion, the former prime minister has tried to separate his alleged influence peddling in Operation Plus Ultra from what would be a gift from a Gulf monarchy to his wife. His defense is based on speaking of a gift made to Spain – therefore, there would be no smuggling – and with tax obligations already prescribed. But no one will spare him, even if his version can be proven, the social sanction of keeping them and leaving them in a safe without declaring them or handing them over to the State's assets.
At the heart of the case are two issues that need to be clearly regulated and applied: the blurred line between lobbying for business interests and influence peddling. A line that former ministers, former deputies, and former presidents permanently cross. The other issue is whether the code that prevents accepting gifts that are more than symbolic is being followed. And it is no use saying that "in 2007 there was no legislation as there is today," as Pedro Sánchez did to justify the gifts. The Spanish prime minister should remember that the emeritus king was punished by public opinion for being the great exponent of a way of operating within the magma of an exercise of power made of corruption mixed with diplomacy, private interests, and gifts from the satrap monarchies of the Gulf. An absolute confusion between what is public and what is private.
The judicial onslaught against the PSOE has found enough water in the pool to investigate corruption and today the accelerated scenario is that of the end of an era before the legislature ends in September 2027. Sánchez is in electoral mode and he will be the one to decide when to call the elections, but, for now, he knows that nowhere will he be more protected than in Moncloa.
In the president's words, the general elections will be in 2027, without coinciding with the municipal and regional elections, and the budget project will have been presented this year 2026. The PNB showed him the way, and it seems that the approval or not of the budgets will be what precipitates the electoral call. Budgets can act as an electoral program because they will determine public spending priorities, that is, political priorities. Therefore, the calendar says that the elections could be held in the first quarter of next year, just after the foreseeable failure of the budgetary approval. Sánchez also has another option: to call them after the municipal and regional elections in May and take advantage of the uproar of the pacts between the PP and Vox to mobilize the left and its stronghold of Catalonia.
The coming months may bring news and the situation may still change radically if the amnesty is complied with. In any case, we are in an electoral campaign and Madrid is a pressure cooker, where everyone who can, does.
