One of the best titles in Spanish literature is Tomorrow in Battle, Think of Me, a novel by Javier Marías that had great success immediately after its publication in 1994. A 368-page novel that should be read slowly. Marías, who unfortunately died a year ago, was inspired by Shakespeare to compose a musical, harmonious title, with a false romantic evocation, since it refers to a desire for revenge. “Tomorrow in battle think of me and let your blunt sword fall: despair and die!” exclaims the late Queen Anne when she appears in a dream to Richard III along with other ghosts, on the eve of the battle of Bosworth. All those whom the king has ordered to kill and mistreat predict a terrible end for him. The burden of the dead and the remorse of the living, this is the theme of Marías' famous novel.
In the seventies, veterans of journalism taught us that it was not convenient to make headlines by literally copying the name of a film or a novel, but they authorized us to play with them, as long as we looked for irony and a wink at the reader. Since the amnesty announced yesterday by Pedro Sánchez before the Federal Committee of the PSOE is acquiring strong tragic tones in many public statements and press articles, we can borrow the beautiful title of Javier Marías to approach a political situation that no longer has any return. back, as Lola García explains today in La Vanguardia.
Spain is committing suicide. Social democracy has mutated into populism. The Mohammedans try to cross the Strait of Gibraltar en masse in search of land still arable in the climatic furnace. The European Union is once again exclusively a common market, with no pretensions to political unity after the devastating war in Ukraine and the great drama in Gaza. Each country seeks life on its own and all the tensions prior to the Great War of 1914 have returned. There is a fight for areas of influence. American capital reigns in Madrid and Turkey is interested in owning a naval base on the coast of Almería. Catalonia returns to the fray and is now fighting to join the strengthened Carolingian alliance (France and Germany), while the Basque Country strengthens ties with French Aquitaine. A chorus of deep voices warns of an imminent tragedy and the specter of Felipe González appears in Sánchez's dreams, who sleeps like a dormouse, as he befits a politician without principles. “Tomorrow, after the amnesty, think of me. I told you what would happen. “I warned you,” the ghost whispers to him.
It is possible to imagine another version of the brave step taken yesterday by Sánchez. “After the amnesty, think of me,” Alberto Núñez Feijóo tells Catalan businessmen and the most pragmatic exponents of Junts per Catalunya on one of his periodic visits to Barcelona to mend broken bridges. If we look closely, the amnesty for the events of 2017 is still a political gift for the Spanish right. In the short and medium term. In a first phase, the one we are in now, it serves to organize a monumental front of rejection that goes from the extreme right to former socialist cadres over seventy years old, with the participation of veteran journalists of the transition. The amnesty is a battle flag, but also an interesting opportunity for the intelligent right four years from now. By erasing 2017, the amnesty can free up space for future pacts between the Popular Party – a PP that has freed itself from the Milei temptation – with Catalan and Basque nationalism, once politics has been reconfigured in Catalonia, which will happen slowly. after the next parliamentary elections. The Catalan business community has been the first to understand it. “After the amnesty, think of me,” Núñez Feijóo can recite without fear of making a mistake.
“Tomorrow after the amnesty, think about me, because I can give you a hard time,” Ione Belarra may whisper to Sánchez in his dreams, while he ruminates on the composition of the future Government. We are on the eve of a change of needles. Decisive weight of Junts and PNV in the parliamentary majority (both formations have 12 deputies) and possible exclusion of Podemos from the new Executive. Modification of the barycenter. Change of axis with respect to the previous legislature. Seeing the storm coming, Sánchez has said that the decision about Podemos is in the hands of Yolanda Díaz. With only five deputies, the purple ones will not torpedo the investiture – they cannot in arithmetic and political terms – but they can put up barricades within the parliamentary majority if they see themselves excluded from the Government. The left pillar may be the true weak point of the legislature that is now beginning.
“Tomorrow, before the amnesty, think of us,” the PNV seems to be saying. Josu Jon Imaz, CEO of Repsol, has just warned that his company could divert investments to Portugal if the extraordinary tax on energy companies is maintained. Former president of the Basque Nationalist Party, Imaz abandoned active politics in 2008 and since then has maintained a scrupulous distance from party life. He does not speak on behalf of the PNV, but Sabin Etxea's thoughts resonate in his words: be careful with industrial policy. Petronor, a subsidiary of Repsol, is one of the main contributors to the Basque provincial treasury.
A new political dynamic is now beginning in Spain. Indeed, there is no turning back.
