Sánchez maintains that "there is a legislature" despite the fact that the rapprochement with Junts has not yet borne fruit: "Patience"

MadridFour days after Pedro Sánchez proclaimed his willingness to reach out to Junts again, no contact has yet been made to "restart" the relationship. However, the Spanish Prime Minister remains hopeful and is adopting a "patience" approach, aware that a complete "reconstruction" will not be possible until Carles Puigdemont returns. In an informal conversation with journalists after the Constitution Day ceremony at the Congress, Sánchez asserted that "there is a legislature" until 2027 and guaranteed that he will present a budget for next year. Amid a right-wing offensive against him, cornered by internal scandals—such as the sexual harassment case involving former PSOE leader Paco Salazar, which has haunted him throughout the day—and without a guaranteed parliamentary majority, the Socialist leader emphasized his resilience in what he described as a "complicated legislature." "We have won all the important battles," he concluded.

Even within the ranks of the People's Party (PP), and despite having pontificated during the commemoration about the decline of a Spanish government they consider finished, it's generally accepted that they have no chance of ousting Sánchez imminently. Just a few meters from the Spanish president, in the same lower house chamber, Alberto Núñez Feijóo again ruled out a motion of no confidence, which for now would only make them "look ridiculous." The PP leader explained that his party also has no contact with Junts. Although the leader of the opposition believes that Sánchez is using Puigdemont's party "like a disposable tissue" and "playing with everything, including the timing of the amnesty," he also sees a Spanish president willing to do anything to resist. "Spain is on sale," he lamented.

Thus, the commemoration of the 47th anniversary of the Constitution, which has been marked by polarization and political battles between the two main parties in the country, will foreseeably not be the last with Sánchez as head of the executive branch. Sumar, which is trying to distance itself from the PSOE by raising its voice on issues such as housing, also assumes that it has at least another year until the next Spanish elections. In this sense, Feijóo set his sights on 2028 when he stated his objective of organizing the 50th anniversary of the Constitution from the Moncloa Palace.

The constitutional commemoration

"Spain is experiencing one of the best moments in its democratic history," Sánchez emphasized, who, in statements before the event, sought to refute the "litany of the prophets of doom," referring to previous statements by the PP. Just before Sánchez, Feijóo and some of his regional allies presented the opposing narrative and accused him of leading the Spanish government that "has most degraded the Constitution."

The anniversary has arrived at a time of a lack of bridges between the two main parties, which, however, are still united by institutional events such as the one held this Saturday or those that took place a couple of weeks ago on the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the monarchy. Neither Vox nor the nationalist and separatist parties participated in that celebration either. This Saturday, ministers and members of parliament from Sumar were present.

The battlefield: Salazar and Torrejón

The Spanish prime minister is in a delicate situation. in the midst of the election campaign in ExtremaduraIn the election, a PP victory is predicted, with Vox on the rise and increasingly hounded by issues such as the widely acknowledged mishandling of sexual harassment complaints against former Socialist leader and former high-ranking official at La Moncloa, Paco Salazar. Sánchez has personally taken responsibility for what he called an internal "error" in the "speed" of processing the case, but has denied any "collusion" with Salazar's behavior, stating that he "knew nothing" about it until he learned of it through the press. Sánchez has ruled out the PSOE taking the case to the Public Prosecutor's Office, arguing that it should be the affected parties who do so. The head of the government countered by citing reports of malpractice at the public hospital in the Community of Madrid managed by the private company Ribera Salud.

The Socialist leader invoked Article 43 of the Constitution, which "enshrines the right to public health," and stressed that the Spanish government "will do everything in its power" to guarantee it. The president of the Madrid region, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, responded in another statement to the media that Sánchez is exploiting and exaggerating this case to "cover up" his own scandals. Regarding this other matter that directly affects her, the president of the Madrid PP downplayed its importance—denying that any disruptions in patient service had been proven—and demanded the release of the full audio recordings that uncovered the issue, which she considers "taken out of context." According to Ayuso, the case can be framed within the context of "grudges between managers." The Community of Madrid currently sees no grounds for terminating the contract, although the investigation remains open.

From Isla to Vox: a day of absences

Regarding the absences, the far-right spokesperson in Congress, Pepa Millán, made statements this Saturday in the Lower House to justify Santiago Abascal's absence. "We cannot share space" with the Spanish government, she said, and rejected "pretending normality" alongside an executive "cornered by corruption." Feijóo criticized the decision and distanced himself from it. Many of the presidents of the autonomous communities were also absent from the day's events, which began with the raising of the flag and a brief military parade, including Salvador Illa. The Catalan president, who had just returned from Mexico amidst the swine fever crisis—he did not travel to Madrid to address the outbreak—nevertheless defended the Constitution from afar in a message to X.