Zapatero, Puigdemont, Puente: the dangers of calling for good weather
The Catalan phrase "to call for bad times"It refers to the doomsayer or the jinx: the one who predicts misfortunes. In Spain, and in Catalonia, it is usually the one who does the opposite who attracts misfortune. That is, "calls good weather." In other words, they see the sky as bright and clear without knowing (or knowing, even worse) that storm clouds are approaching.
During the spring of 2008, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, then president of the Spanish government, boasted that the economy was growing at an unstoppable pace. According to him, there was neither a housing bubble nor any perceived mortgage overexposure of the savings banks. In March, the PSOE had won the elections and Zapatero exuded optimism for his second term. The mortgage crisis that had been shaking American banks for months was irrelevant, he insisted.
On June 24, 2008, after the Spanish national football team defeated Italy, Zapatero boasted of the "Overtaking": Besides its footballing achievements, Spain was overtaking Italy because it now had a slightly higher per capita income. It was a success due to the "collective effort and commitment" of its citizens. And, buoyed by the applause, he pulled an even more triumphant comment out of thin air: "Now, on to Germany."
Two weeks later, on television, Zapatero admitted that Spain was "in crisis, as you want me to say." It was the first time he had uttered the word "crisis." What followed has not been forgotten: the worst economic crisis in almost a century, wage devaluation, mass unemployment, the bank bailout, and, above all, the "austerity" imposed by Germany. The very Germany we were going to overtake. Just as we said: calling for good times.
That crisis stimulated Catalan separatism. Carles Puigdemont became President of the Generalitat. On the 23rd In January 2017, before a large audience and on TV3, Puigdemont announced a referendum and said: "I promised to do it right; the state structures must be ready when the time comes, the moment this country decides to act as an independent nation." According to him, Europe viewed the referendum favorably and accepted it. He added: "We would be very irresponsible if we didn't know what we were dealing with."
What can I tell you that you don't already know? What happens is what happens when you "call for good weather." The referendum was violently repressed, the declaration of independence lasted only seconds, the "state structures" were nowhere to be seen, Europe looked the other way, and Puigdemont fled into exile hidden in the trunk of a car.
On November 17, 2025, a little over two months ago, Óscar Puente, Minister of Transport And the Minister of Sustainable Mobility announced that the AVE high-speed train between Barcelona and Madrid would be traveling at 350 kilometers per hour "shortly thereafter." The Spanish high-speed rail network was already the second fastest in the world and now it was going to compete in speed with the best Chinese lines. Puente also announced that there would be more trains without needing more rails: "Not only do we get passengers to arrive sooner, but we also create more track space because the faster the train goes, the less track it occupies."
Oh, what a call for good weather.
Right now, Spanish high-speed rail is the slowest in the world. There are fewer trains. We've discovered that the tracks were somewhat dilapidated and quite unsafe. And, above all, 45 lives have been lost.
It's not worth talking about Rodalies (the commuter rail network), because its users knew that what has ended up happening would happen.
I don't expect our politicians to become Mendicant friars covered in ashes don't need to be constantly prophesying doom. But unfounded boasts—like "calling for good weather"—are ridiculous. And besides, they discredit politics and foster its opposite: anti-politics. Those who make a living preaching the apocalypse.