Montero becomes the opposition's favorite target

MadridWith Pedro Sánchez traveling to Vietnam and China, the People's Party (PP) has found itself with the perfect day to focus its attacks on the First Vice President of the Spanish government, María Jesús Montero. In the Senate, he used his absolute majority to censure her, and during Wednesday's control session in Congress, the conservative party even demanded her resignation. The staging of a fierce confrontation with the Spanish government contrasts with the good rapport that has developed between the PP's economic spokesperson, Juan Bravo, and the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, the person in charge of negotiating with the groups on measures against US tariffs.

On the day that conservatives and social democrats in Germany agreed to form a coalition, such a scenario is unimaginable in Spain. Neither the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) wants it—its argument to energize the electorate is to brandish the scarecrow of the PP-Vox pacts—nor does Alberto Núñez Feijóo, because if he did, it would fuel the far right and its thesis that both are the same. Thus, the focus is on the electoral rivalry, and on the horizon are next year's elections in Andalusia, with María Jesús Montero as the PSOE candidate. "Why are they so worried and nervous? They must have reasons," the Minister of Finance ironically asked Andalusian MP Elías Bendodo.

The PP has targeted Montero after some controversial statements by the minister. First, the Spanish government had to address its criticism of the acquittal of Dani Alves by the Catalan High Court: it called it "shameful" that the presumption of innocence prevails over the testimony of victims of gender-based violence. Later, it characterized private universities as a "threat" to the working class, something the PP interpreted as a generalized attack on private institutions; and on its last visit to Andalusia, it questioned whether doctors who studied at private universities offered "guarantees." "Stop offending judges and doctors," Bendodo urged.

This isn't Montero's only problem: with the opposition of the PP on one side and Podemos on the other, it's plausible that the Spanish government won't be able to pass any budget in this term. The visible face of this failure, beyond Sánchez, will be the Minister of Finance. That's why the People's Party (PP) insisted on Wednesday on asking him whether or not he will submit the accounts to Congress, as the Constitution indicates the Spanish government must do. Bendodo used a surprising metaphor: "Today Barça is playing Borussia Dortmund. Imagine if Borussia Dortmund comes with a divided dressing room and suggests the Champions League cancel the match because they're going to lose. It would be a monumental scandal, wouldn't it? That's exactly what they do with the budgets. They don't present them because they lose."

The Emergency of the Body

Montero's delicate situation coincides with the tariff crisis and the emergence of Minister Cuerpo, a technical figure far removed from partisan mudslinging who maintains good communication with his PP counterpart, Juan Bravo. "In the last few hours, I've spoken with him almost more than with my family," he joked from the Senate corridors this Tuesday. It remains to be seen whether the Minister of Economy manages to steer the PP toward abstention or a positive vote on the aid decree for sectors affected by tariffs with his conciliatory approach. "I have to acknowledge his willingness to sit down with the parliamentary groups," Bravo admitted during Cuerpo's appearance in Congress to explain the aid plan.

And it's not just the PP that welcomes the change of interlocutor. Together, they have found that their request to establish that the distribution of aid will take into account the exposure of companies based in Catalonia has been met with the unhindered connivance of the Corps. Furthermore, the relationship between Sumar and Podemos and Montero also has room for improvement. The Spanish government downplays this circumstance and emphasizes that the Corps is in charge of this issue because tariff policy falls under the Trade Department, a department attached to his ministry. "He is the competent minister," summarizes the Moncloa, who also considers it "phenomenal" that the Corps is in charge of this crisis. "He is the right person," they add.