The Spanish two-party system turns its back on October 12.

MadridWith the usual absence of sovereignty and the surprising absence of Vox leader Santiago Abascal, October 12th this year was the day of bipartisanship, which, despite the differences, sustains pillars of the state such as the monarchy and accompanies it on the day of exhibitionism of the armed forces. The Spanish government has a Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, who this Sunday stood and watched the entire military parade, just like Felipe VI and the main military authorities with reserved seats in the main tribune, while the rest of the members of the Spanish executive spent their time with long faces or looking at their cell phones. But this bipartisanship is now experiencing a giant distancing, reflected in another scene from the parade: the spokesperson for the PSOE in Congress, Patxi López, was sitting next to his counterpart in the PP, Ester Muñoz, who spent the entire event with her back slightly turned to him and conversing with her party leader, Alberto Núñ.

Once again, from Neptuno Square in Madrid, Spanish President Pedro Sánchez was heard from afar, hissing and booing as he arrived to greet Felipe VI and his family. He greeted Isabel Díaz Ayuso with extreme coldness. The president of the Community of Madrid arrived as late as possible, but not late enough for Sánchez to wait for her and not the other way around. Both currently embody the antagonism between the two main political forces in the state, and their political action consists of opposing each other. On the one hand, the Madrid president often sets the agenda for her party's leader in the state, Feijóo; and on the other, the Moncloa (Spanish central government) constantly undermines the Ayuso model, this week tightening the requirements for the creation of private universities—in Madrid, there is increasingly less regional budget for public universities—and fueling the controversy over abortion.

On an October 12th marked by absences, the Attorney General of the State, Álvaro García Ortiz, stood out. According to those close to him, it was for personal reasons. However, this coincides with his delicate situation: in three weeks he will be in the dock for alleged disclosure of secrets before the Supreme Court and this Sunday he avoided meeting with the president of the institution that will judge him, the Catalan Isabel Perelló, and with Ayuso herself – he is accused of leaking a confidential email. The last time García Ortiz was supposed to attend an institutional event with Felipe VI was at the opening of the judicial year, and Feijóo did not attend in protest at the presence of the State Attorney. Thus, García Ortiz was also able to avoid the subsequent reception of the King at the Royal Palace, where the usual groups with journalists.

However, that moment was also weak. The head of the State's executive spent a long time waiting for the arrival of the journalists, who had trouble accessing the guest area, and ended up leaving before speaking to them. "He won't like Hispanic identity," Feijóo commented ironically. In fact, the very concept of Hispanic identity is under discussion after Ayuso asserted a few days ago that Latin Americans are not immigrants in Spain. The only words from the Spanish president, therefore, were in a tweet on X: "Pride of our country, of its people, of its solidarity and diversity, of its cultural wealth and its natural heritage. Pride of Spain." However, the video he had recorded for the occasion was criticized by Ayuso for the fact that no Spanish flag appeared. "Sánchez is engaged in polling, in demoscopy, in civil war, and in driving gaps between Spaniards," he stated in statements to Telemadrid.

Specifically, this Monday, the October barometer of the Center for Sociological Research (CIS) will be published, at a time when electoral polls are being published at a frenetic pace in the media. All of them agree on the rise of Vox to the detriment of the PP, which explains why Abascal decided to distance himself this Sunday—even ditching the king—with the argument that Sánchez is using October 12th to "whitewash his corruption." Despite this trend, Feijóo claimed to be encouraged—Sánchez told him: "Cheer up, Alberto," this week in Congress—because, unlike the Spanish prime minister, his family members are not surrounded by alleged corruption. Just hours before the head of the Spanish government traveled to Egypt to attend the signing of the peace agreement for Gaza, Feijóo stressed that he has made a fool of himself in terms of foreign policy by approving an arms embargo on Israel just as a ceasefire is in place.

Isla normalizes her presence

From a Catalan perspective, for the second consecutive year, the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, attended the 12th of October parade. He has already normalized his presence at events of this type, within the framework of his strategy to return Catalonia to the institutionality of the State. "Coexistence means recognizing and guaranteeing the plurality and diversity of Spain, its territories and its languages. At a time like this, of such profound changes, we must protect this Spain of everyone and emphasize what unites us," he wove to X. In the moments before the parade, he could be seen talking with the president who is approaching the end of his mandate with the amnesty pending application to the leaders of the Process, and he also embraced the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, with whom he is expected to agree on the new, one-off financing for Catalonia.