Ayuso, on the left: "I encourage them to go to Tehran alone and drunk"

MadridIsabel Díaz Ayuso has once again positioned herself as Pedro Sánchez's antagonist in the wake of the Iran war. The Madrid president has attacked the Spanish prime minister for his clash with the United States, casting herself as his antithesis with a discourse aligned with Donald Trump. Just as she did with Gaza—with the controversial support he gave to Benjamin Netanyahu Amid Israel's offensive—or the unilateral US attack on Venezuela—Ayuso has escalated her rhetoric against the Spanish Prime Minister's "No to war" stance, labeling him a "rebellious teenage leader." "Of course, no to war, and may it end as soon as possible, but also no to the Spanish civil war that [the PSOE] fuels every day," the Madrid PP leader emphasized during the question period in the Madrid Assembly, responding to the PSOE. All the Socialist deputies wore stickers with the pacifist slogan, revived by their leader, superimposed on a Spanish flag. In this direct confrontation with Sánchez—which both the Moncloa Palace and Ayuso are stoking to the detriment of Alberto Núñez Feijóo's leadership—the Madrid PP leader's words have provoked widespread outrage on the left.

"I encourage them to go to Tehran alone and drunk," the Madrid president retorted in response to criticism from opposition leader Manuela Bergerot of Más Madrid—ignoring the fact that such a scene would be highly unlikely in Iran, where alcohol consumption is prohibited. Ayuso added that she also encourages them to "bring their gay friends along, to see when they hang them from cranes." "This is how they treat homosexuality and women," she insisted. "The first condition for a woman to be free is that her country not be bombed," Bergerot retorted, lamenting that Ayuso has a "mania" for "scolding women who like to go out partying." This is not the first time the Madrid president has used this feminist slogan to attack the Madrid left. "Did they arrive home alone and drunk after going out at night with Errejón?" she asked a year and a half ago in another plenary session when the scandal involving the former spokesperson for Sumar broke. Más Madrid has lamented that Ayuso "lacks feminism" and "is the same" as José María Aznar or Santiago Abascal.

Shortly afterward, at a conference organized by the PP in Congress entitled Free women And with an Iranian activist present, the Popular Party leader has joined this battle with the left. "To wave the flag of peace, we must have an answer for them. What do we say to the Iranian women? That they wait another 40 years? That they submit to the regime's violence?" Feijóo asked, questioning whether Sánchez's government will defend women and feminism on the eve of International Women's Day (March 8). The PP leader, who is struggling to find his place in this confrontational context and with Trump's latest moves—taking a less radical stance than Ayuso—called for "restraint" from the parties involved in the Iran-Iraq War and asserted that "Sánchez lies, also about foreign policy." "I don't recognize any moral superiority he has to speak of peace, much less patriotism," Feijóo said.

The internal crisis in Madrid

Although the main focus of the parliamentary session in the regional assembly was Ayuso's appearance to explain her recent government crisis, the international situation and the Madrid president's outbursts partially overshadowed it. As she did a couple of weeks ago, Ayuso justified the dismissal of Emilio Viciana, the former Education Minister, which triggered a trickle of resignations from a group of deputies and government officials known as... the popcornsAccording to the Madrid president, she made the move because she wanted "a change of course" in education policies, thus downplaying the internal struggle within the Madrid PP and her regional government that the change of leadership revealed. The Madrid PP considers the crisis over and is closing ranks behind Ayuso, whose leadership is undisputed and continues to be solidified through headline-grabbing headlines.