Sánchez humiliates himself to put Juntos between a rock and a hard place

BarcelonaDuring the investiture debate in November 2023, Pedro Sánchez was informed that Junts was upset because he had used expressions like "reunion" and "reconciliation" in his speech when referring to the Catalan situation. When he returned to the podium, Sánchez, with surprising skill, shifted his focus to "political conflict" and "historic opportunity," more in line with the Brussels Agreement, until Santos Cerdán received confirmation on his mobile phone that Junts' votes were not at risk. Sánchez has learned over these years that for Junts, and especially for Carles Puigdemont, words are very important. Because words shape the narrative. And that is why, in front of Gemma Nierga, the Spanish president revived the expressions contained in the pact, which Junts had once used to present the text as a kind of Stormont agreement. BisAnd not only that. Sánchez also knows that Junts likes to flaunt its power in Madrid, so this Tuesday he made the unprecedented gesture of agreeing with Míriam Nogueras and admitting that there have been "breaches and delays."

As expected, Sánchez's self-humiliation has been met with condescension by Junts. But let's not be fooled. The PSOE's plan now involves approving measures demanded by Junts that they had previously shelved, so the Junts members will hardly be able to vote against them. The Spanish government now needs a few parliamentary victories, and to achieve this, it will put Junts between a rock and a hard place.

A delicate balance

For Junts, which is navigating the difficult balance between breaking with Sánchez and at the same time not facilitating a PP-Vox government, the challenge is not to appear as... simp (the role they attribute to ERC) but also not as someone who votes against the interests of small and medium-sized businesses. Surely, in the coming weeks we will see more gestures towards Junts, who will have to choose between relaxing their expressions and smiling a little or remaining perpetually angry. And Sánchez also knows that no party can remain in a bad mood all the time without ending up being unlikeable to its own voters.