There is something healthy about the vote of no confidence organized by Vox, although for reasons somewhat different from what its promoters think. On the one hand, the figure of Ramón Tamames generates an undoubted curiosity: at 89 years old and after a hectic journey through the entire ideological spectrum (from communism to the extreme right, passing through the center), he represents the most thunderous group of the generation of the transition. It is not a question now of giving names (the list would fill this article), but there are numerous politicians, journalists, intellectuals and businessmen who, at some point in their long biographies, went from promoting the values of openness and integration that they defended after the death of Franco to adopt a reactionary and nostalgic position before the politics of the present.
All in all, what I would like to discuss in this article is not so much this peculiar evolution, but rather the clarifying utility that the motion of censure can have. Perhaps I am completely wrong, but I believe that the motion will contribute to some extent to the establishment of the reality principle in Spanish politics.
Since the beginning of the legislature, and especially in recent months, the right-wing has been building a bizarre narrative according to which the current government represents a direct threat to the system. Albert Rivera called the Executive “the gang”, Abascal declared Pedro Sánchez “illegitimate president” and Díaz Ayuso and Núñez Feijóo have announced that the dilemma at the moment is “Sánchez or Spain”. Beneath all these disqualifications, a sinister script can be guessed in which Sánchez, as long as he remains in power, is willing to end democracy and break the unity of Spain. According to this hallucinated story, the president has already taken the first step trampling on the division of powers with the modification of the Criminal Code and the measures to prevent the PP from vetoing the renewal in time for the Constitutional Court.
The accusations are staggering. Authoritarianism? Elimination of the division of powers? Assault on institutions? The left-wing government has had a parliamentary majority to modify the crimes of sedition and embezzlement. The problem is that these measures have been able to benefit the pro-independence leaders. You can (and should) criticize the haste of the Executive, its explanations at times stammering, but from there to concluding that an attack on democracy is taking place there is a long way. All this is even more indigestible when it is remembered that it is the Popular Party that has been refusing to renew the General Council of the Judiciary for four years.
The less exalted criticize that these legislative reforms have a certain ad hoc character, being promoted for their immediate consequences and not for the general interest. There is some truth in that accusation, but none of this would have had to be done if the Supreme Court had not abused the crime of sedition to establish disproportionate sentences and if the government of Mariano Rajoy itself had not toughened up the crime of sedition in 2015. embezzlement in order to embezzle the independentistas (in the same way that José María Aznar reformed the Penal Code in 2003, introducing the crime of illegally calling a referendum to be able to go against the lehendakari Ibarretxe, later annulled by the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero) .
When my foreign colleagues ask me what's going on in Spain, I can't bring them up to date. They don't understand a word. They see that our country has avoided recession, it is right now one of the European states with the highest economic growth and the lowest inflation rate. In addition, they perceive that Sánchez has gained some leadership and prominence in the European Union, that Podemos has remained faithful to the coalition and that numerous advanced and innovative social laws have been approved.
To this could be added other positive aspects. For the first time since Franco's death, we had a strong economic shock with the pandemic that, thanks to the ERTE, did not translate into explosive unemployment figures; the minimum vital income has been implemented; there has been a significant increase in the minimum wage, and plans to combat climate change have gained momentum. The enormous leap forward that has been made with the reform of the labor market deserves special mention: the government, employers and unions agreed to put an end to the high rates of temporary employment without causing greater unemployment. Lastly, the political situation in Catalonia seems somewhat calmer thanks to a partial de-judicialization.
Of course, this list of achievements can be opposed by a no less extensive list of criticisms, from the spying on Catalan leaders to the failure of housing policies, without forgetting the monumental mess in which the Government regarding the law of only yes is yes or the cold and cynical reaction of the Executive before the tragedy in Melilla last year.
Multiple omissions can also be mentioned, especially in the territorial question: territorial financing has not yet been reformed and there has been no negotiating offer on the Catalan issue from the Government. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
It is convenient to talk about all this, the positive and the negative, calmly and in depth. My hope is that Vox's motion of no confidence serves to confront the hyperbolic rhetoric of the right-wing with the reality of the country and of the government's action. It is true that these issues are more boring than the existential and alarming crisis of democracy and the territorial integrity of Spain that have been invented. The right-wing have managed to raise the hostility of their own towards Sánchez to unknown and dangerous heights. Without Vox then, the PP already tried something similar in Zapatero's first legislature, but it went wrong.
Despite how inflamed the right-wing electorate finds itself, it would not be surprising if something similar happened in the next general elections if the political debate was managed to be redirected towards the reality of the country.
