A festival of tricks

It's almost fifteen years since the most agonizing night experienced in the Moncloa Palace since the 23-F referendum. Spain was at risk of being taken over. The concern was such that the world's leading leaders, including Merkel and Obama, called on Rodríguez Zapatero to impose urgent reforms. And so, on May 12, 2010, a president humiliated by international pressure and disliked by his public, appeared in Congress to announce the massive cuts: reductions in public salaries, a freeze on pensions, and other measures that were especially painful for a socialist like him.

Is what we're experiencing these days anything like it? Of course it is! It's very similar. The difference is that now the fault isn't the economy, whose figures are the best in Europe. The fault lies with the official handling of Western demands in military matters. It's reached such a rift that our government can't speak with the United States about tariffs or any other issue without being criticized for its weak defense contribution. This happened, for example, to Minister Cuerpo when he went to Washington to negotiate. And the most serious thing is what happened with the head of NATO: Mark Rutte declared that Pedro Sánchez had announced 2% of GDP this year. Pedro Sánchez denied it, ordered his ministers to deny it, and this Tuesday, he went back on his word and confirmed what Rutte had said. One more. Someone deceived someone, and Sánchez had no choice but to deny himself and make what the NATO boss revealed true.

This, then, would be the Alsina moment : the moment Sánchez argues that changing his mind isn't lying. What we ignore due to a lack of transparency is the amount and level of pressure. It must have been immense, perhaps unbearable, for Sánchez to change course on such a significant issue with such devastating effects on the coalition he leads and on the simple coexistence of his ministers. Until now, there had been disagreements. Since Tuesday, there has been an atmosphere of civil war. Only Yolanda Díaz saves the continuity of the Cabinet.

The price, then, is extremely high for three reasons: the division it creates; the loss of credibility, aggravated by the next deception—too many, Mr. President!—which was the purchase, ultimately annulled also out of shame, of 15 million bullets from Israel, leaving Marlaska high and dry; the way these decisions are slipped into democratic legality as if it were a building permit: without consulting the opposition, without informing the parties in the parliamentary spectrum, and the accounting tricks of skimming other items to total the required €10.5 billion.

The columnist doesn't know how the public will receive this festival of tricks. But he's starting to have two certainties. One, somewhat minor: this is the reason Sánchez won't be in Rome. And the second, that if he doesn't call elections, it's because he doesn't believe his faithful Tezanos's polls and is afraid of losing.

SCRAPS

Pope/1. Tomorrow, the gathering at the Vatican of heads of state and government, Catholic or not, will highlight the lack of world leaders of his caliber. No one deserves more respect than he does. No one has his charisma. No one can compare to him.

Pope /2. You already know, rulers, what the program most of the world desires, if we haven't been lied to these days: humility, sensitivity to the poor, care for migrants, mercy, and charity. Or is that only valued in a Pope?

Pope/3. From the King and Queen down, four are Spain's official envoys to the funeral: Vice Presidents Montero and Díaz, Minister Bolaños, and opponent Feijóo. If Rome starts to show respect for them, we'll have to pull out the old "Sudden Saint" sign.

Puente. Congratulations, Don Óscar. You couldn't possibly start a ministerial term worse than you: you were like a Doberman with an official car. Today I hear nothing but praise for your character, your management, and even your intellectual stature.

Euskadi. The 2025 Aberri Eguna marked a new era: the era of Madrid's promises ended and the era of demanding that they be fulfilled began. And remember that the PNV vote was instrumental in bringing down Rajoy.

Rearmament. I love that word! Especially when it's accompanied by a qualifier: moral. It's rarely used now, but I swear there was a time when it was fashionable to talk about "moral rearmament."