Is Sánchez willing to lose the Junts vote of confidence?

MadridPedro Sánchez could have reproached Míriam Nogueras during the control session on Wednesday for Junts allowing Silvia Orriols to continue as mayor of Ripoll. He did not do so, a sign that the Spanish president is saving his reproaches towards a party that he needs to stay alive in Moncloa, even if it makes things difficult for him. This coming week, if there is no change of script, Carles Puigdemont's party will approve in Congress, with the help of the PP and Vox, a non-binding initiative that urges Sánchez to submit to a vote of confidence. However, both parties are negotiating against the clock. from Switzerland a counterbalance that would make Junts withdraw the initiative.

At this point, both sides had already assumed the fate of this non-law proposal, after having agreed a few weeks ago on changes to the text to specify that the vote of confidence is an exclusive prerogative of the president. Sánchez himself has already made it clear several times that he sees no reason to submit and the PSOE downplays this hypothetical defeat in the hemicycle. "It changes little or nothing. It does not worry us," say socialist sources. But at the last minute the urgency of avoiding the clash always appears. When the initiative was to be processed at the table last December and January, the decision was postponed twice to allow for negotiations.

For obvious reasons, Sánchez would like to avoid a new display of weakness in Congress, but also in Junts the management of the vote may be complex. "He will come out with the PP and Vox. They will have the photo they wanted," say the PSOE bench. Puigdemont's party should count on this alignment with the Spanish right and far right a week after the endorsement in Aliança Catalana. Junts assures that it is not worried, on the contrary, it is the way to demonstrate that it is not part of any block in Congress and that reinforces it in its decisive role in deciding majorities. The underlying objective of the initiative is, in fact, to portray Sánchez's partners and to confirm that, despite the breaches, they do trust them. Now, Esquerra can show that it has started the transfer of Cercanías.

Secondly, what does the withdrawal of confidence translate into? Does it mean that the negotiations end here? The pro-independence party is already pointing to another way out: it will imply that the Spanish government will have to get its act together. Without an important role in Catalonia, Puigdemont's party needs to maintain its influence in Madrid. This is where the transfer of powers on immigration comes into play, a fundamental piece of the game. Junts assumes that there will be no budget for 2025 and that, if the transfer is not unblocked, Sánchez would not be able to count on their votes for the 2026 budget.

The Spanish president is coping as best he can with the international agenda, the question of confidence and the clash between María Jesús Montero and Yolanda D. His main vice-presidents are entrenched in the issue of personal income tax and the minimum wage, with accusations of lying included. The most twisted believe that it is a theatre for Sumar to revive, given that Sánchez needs a strong minority partner to repeat in Moncloa, but the wear and tear on the candidate Montero in Andalusia is too high.

The details of the week

The show politics advocated by some television formats meant that in May 2022, on the first return of Juan Carlos I to Sanxenxo since he left for Abu Dhabi, the Yacht club welcomed him with a "Long live the king!" at the urging of a journalist. This is also how the fake hug between Vice Presidents Montero and Díaz took place on Tuesday at an event where they met. "Will you hug each other?" a reporter urged them.

The PSOE has almost finished a regulation on granting and withdrawing accreditations to communication professionals in Congress. For months, far-right agitators such as Vito Quiles and Bertrand Ndongo have been distorting the work of journalists, but this week the tension escalated when they pointed out a reporter from La Sexta on social media to tell a cameraman from the chamber not to film how Quiles was chasing a minister.