Sánchez opts for "it's the economy, stupid"

MadridThe course of events over the past few weeks reinforces the idea that we still have a long way to go in the current legislature. For some time now, the informational spotlight has no longer been dominated by negative judicial decisions against the government on a daily basis. Furthermore, Sánchez continues to gain traction with his policy of direct criticism of the actions of the United States and Israel, which has led to the burning of the Middle East. The changes in the council of ministers have also once again provided the socialists with a respite, with the focus on Carlos Cuerpo, the new first vice president, who has been becoming a symbol for his calm and dialoguing nature. It's as if to say that another type of political practice, different from what we are used to, is possible.

The decree to address the consequences of the war in Iran has served, in parallel, for the pact between the main parties that allowed the start of the legislature to be recovered in a way, even though the PSOE was not the most voted party. The PP continues to struggle to find the key that could make the possibility of reaching Moncloa more credible based on the results of the next general elections. Its project is an alliance with Vox. But even if the numbers allowed it, such an agreement would be insufficient to guarantee a period of political stability. It is not easy to understand why the popular party makes no attempt to approach Junts, now that this party has stopped worrying about the possibility of being harmed by its parliamentary votes that coincide with those of the popular party and the far-right.

In any case, the juntaires are demonstrating a practical sense that they had not always shown in recent years. This is demonstrated by their support for the government in the vote on measures to alleviate the effects of the Iran war. Despite this, Sánchez does not have Junts' vote guaranteed on other issues. The socialists cannot be sure that Puigdemont's party will maintain an attitude of collaboration. Even less so, considering that the full application of the amnesty law never seems to arrive. The PP would have in this scenario a possible opportunity to approach a party with which it will have to count in the future if Feijóo manages to pass the filter of an investiture debate. We already know that the presence of Vox in a government will be a serious inconvenience for this type of agreement, but the popular party will not be able to afford not to have its own policy for Catalonia.

Vox plays with fire

Vox, for its part, is playing with fire. It is constantly in the news for internal struggles and fights. It makes perfect sense that Abascal wants to get rid of Javier Ortega Smith, a politician who causes conflict wherever he goes. But it is less understandable that he has not been able to come to an agreement with Iván Espinosa de los Monteros, a much more prepared and versatile figure. Vox members don't quite know how to interpret the recent electoral results. Too much euphoria for the rise and too much pastime.

For now, it remains to be seen how they will manage the votes gathered in Extremadura, Aragon, and Castile and León, whether there will really be a coalition, and how coexistence will go this time. I have always found it hard to believe that Spain can have an evolution similar to other countries in Europe and the Americas – North and South – where the far-right has achieved power or is decisive in exercising it.

Feijóo's big challenge is still to get rid of Vox's influence. In Valencia, the PP has bought into their discourse, and the Popular Party's contradiction remains that they need to make a pact with a formation they would like to see reduced to the bare minimum. The most blatant case is that of the Extremaduran president, María Guardiola, who has suffered more intensely than her counterpart in Castile and León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, a first phase of shared government with Abascal's troops.

The hemeroteca mine

The drama for Feijóo is that he obtains electoral benefits that he cannot or does not know how to invest to obtain the corresponding profitability. The PP is once again convinced that the next opportunity will be the right one, the definitive one, as it was in 2023, and it was left at the foot of the stairs. But it is difficult to see a climate clearly in favor of an imminent change. Especially at key moments in parliamentary debates. That Feijóo's "No to war" is a "No to war and to you", the latter referring to Sánchez, is not a phrase of great spectacular value. The president of the Spanish government, on the other hand, has a goldmine at his disposal that draws from the archives and graphic records, with Aznar at the famous Texan residence of the North American president, George Bush, at the time of the invasion of Iraq.

Pedro Sánchez's best find in this period is, in any case, Carlos Cuerpo, the man who has grown up largely thanks to the attacks he has received from the vice president and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz. The day the Sumar leader told the new vice president of the government that one had to be a bad person not to accept the reduction in working hours, she did him a great favor. Especially because he knew how to react by putting on a surprised face and with a smile.

The new vice president

Cuerpo is politics with anesthesia, a man who recalls the famous Mr. Hulot, the cinematic character created by Jacques Tati, who stirred everything up and was not afraid of anything. But don't be fooled. This man knows very well where he is going and where he is heading. He is the collaborator that Sánchez needed now. His predecessor, Vice President María Jesús Montero, who has set off for the improbable conquest of Andalusia, has left him the issue of regional financing quite raw.

Cuerpo will oversee the task that the new head of Treasury, Arcadi España, will carry out on this chapter. The challenge is to get the agreement out of the fridge. The proposal for singular financing for Catalonia rests in the freezer. All accompanied by economic measures to deal with the consequences of the war, trying to maintain the social democratic orientation as the government's philosophy. In short, once again the recourse to Bill Clinton's famous slogan to defeat Bush: "It's the economy, stupid." The pity is that according to the Bank of Spain, we could reach an inflation of 6% if the war drags on.