Madrid Confidential, the thriller of the moment
MadridSpanish political life has become a detective story, a true thriller. The narrative is full of unknowns, and the action unfolds in an intensely emotional climate. Some people are focusing on the physical appearance of the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, as never before, seeking to detect the effects of the crisis his leadership is going through. The former spokesperson for the Canary Islands Coalition, Ana Oramas, once criticized the PSOE Secretary General's usual air of self-sufficiency when he entered the chamber of Congress, telling him it reminded her of the "slump that handsome men have when they walk." Now, however, what people look at is Sánchez's face, usually to conclude that he has suddenly lost visibly more weight. In this sense, public curiosity might remind us of Alfred Hitchcock's film. The wrong man, translated here as False culprit (1956).
It's the story of a modest musician—played by Henry Fonda—who is baselessly accused of a series of robberies, for which he is arrested and imprisoned. It's a script designed to make people suffer. The audience knows he's not the perpetrator of the crimes he's accused of, but everything seems to lead to an inexorable conviction. A good portion of the socialist militancy now fills an imaginary audience of this kind. They see Sánchez as the unjustly persecuted jazz musician in Hitchcock's film, who reacts bravely when he's released on bail and insists on proving his innocence, which he achieves at a high price, while his wife—played by Vera Miles—is overwhelmed by circumstances and has to be admitted to the hospital.
This is the first version of the set where the thriller that the Ábalos-Koldo-Cerdán triad case has become is being filmed. It has a main story and several parallel ones, such as that of the porn actress who accompanied the former Minister of Public Works the day they were slashed. A situation in which Ábalos's friend wanted to go out for a walk with the dog, an excuse to take a hard drive so the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard wouldn't find it. This episode takes us to another filming location, aggravated by the recent debate in Congress on this corruption case. It is another criminal story, much crueler than the previous one, titled LA Confidential, where prostitution appears as one of the underlying issues, as occurred in the plot twist in the Congressional debate.
I'm referring to the intervention of the PP leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, during Sánchez's reply, when he brought up the business dealings of his opponent's father-in-law, related to saunas where this type of paid sex practice had allegedly taken place. That's really going all out, recreating the atmosphere of the aforementioned film. In that case, it was set in Los Angeles, and in real life, in the Spanish capital, Madrid. It's, in short, a script that would have become a series, Madrid Confidencial, filmed in an atmosphere of general suspicion. The PP's case against the PSOE, a party Feijóo accuses of having become a mafia. And the other way around, the PSOE's case against the PP, which he reminds of its serious corruption cases from a past that is still being judged in the courts. And it is suspected that the PP has had and has privileged and advance information about the steps being taken by the police and judicial investigation into the aforementioned corrupt socialist triad.
Breaking up the PSOE's alliances
I don't know if we'll ever know everything, neither about the degree of penetration of the Ábalos-Koldo-Cerdán triad in the administration to collect in exchange for the awarding of public works, nor about hypothetical strategies of leaks and use of the political calendar to sink Pedro Sánchez's government. The truth is that the PSOE is convinced that these maneuvers have been carried out and continue to be carried out to generate an unbreathable climate that will end up breaking the PSOE's alliances and causing the fall of the coalition and the calling of early elections. In any case, in Madrid Confidencial, unlike in LA ConfidentialThere's no tormented love story, there's no Kim Basinger seeking redemption in the arms of Russell Crowe. We can all think that the sewers of Madrid are now dirtier than ever, and in every direction, but we'll be left halfway, without clarifying all the unknowns.
The battle in Madrid is political and between branches of government. With the debate in Congress, everyone has bought time, except Feijóo. The PP would have liked to push harder, to keep Sánchez on the ropes. But the PP's biggest obstacle is still Vox. The polls say the far right is going to grow. Some say this to mobilize votes for the left, as they did two years ago. However, I don't think they're lying. Feijóo's tactic of going against Sánchez by taking advantage of his father-in-law's commercial resume was not a good move. It brings him closer to Vox's style, but with little chance of making it profitable, because, as we know, the original is always better than the copy. On the other hand, it's probably more productive for the PP to question the possible agreement on new funding for Catalonia, exploiting the idea of discrimination and grievance. Or to visit Barcelona, as it just did, to highlight its problems with citizen security.
Despite the prejudices about privileges for Catalonia, for the government, and for the PSOE, the agreement on funding will provide a welcome relief, as was Sánchez's appearance and the course of the debate in Congress. But that session ended with very open conclusions. The Socialists will have to be very careful, not only about what may emerge from the investigations into their corrupt triad and the possible growth of the case with more people involved on a larger scale—which is the main one—but also about the evolution of the analyses carried out by their partners and the reactions provoked by the Supreme Court's steps. Feijóo demonstrated anguish and haste by attacking everyone, including Juntos and PNV. But the PSOE won't be saved solely by the country's strong economic performance, which isn't reaching everyone. For the Spanish government, the challenge is to stem the drain of trust and credibility. And this is quickly lost in Madrid Confidencial and is difficult to recover.
