The country's first problem

This is the occasion to repeat the most plagiarized phrase: the situation isn't serious, but it is alarming. It isn't serious because the system isn't bankrupt, nor are the banks, and Puigdemont fell for Pedro's magical seduction and is convinced that it was Feijoo—who else?—who is to blame for the Catalan, Galician, and Basque languages ​​no longer being official in the European institutions. So, we can continue without this budgetary nitpicking and without new laws, and Pedro can pretend to govern. The situation isn't serious and, therefore, doesn't justify Feijóo putting so much faith in demanding Pedro's removal by burning on the funeral pyre of power. Puigdemont remains his guardian angel.

The situation, however, is alarming given everything that was published in a week in which the nation's legitimate government was accused of being a mafia boss; the press, especially the conservative press, was dominated by the word "corruption" ; a leader of the ruling party scandalously granted himself immunity and is receiving the support of Moncloa; the political establishment seems incapable of stopping all the intrigues mounted around the ministers, and they are exhausted by resorting to the perversions and dangers of the extreme right and the tear-jerking message that "they're coming for us." To say that we haven't witnessed a spectacle like this since Galdós's Episodios Nacionales doesn't seem like an exaggeration.

Sánchez's greatest success is that society travels and fills hotels, but it seems politically anesthetized.

So, let's write without any of the most common attitudes in today's Spain: without rancor, without false benevolence, or desire for confrontation. I'm speaking, first, of the Leire Díez case, already known as the plumber's case . There is an indisputable fact: the recordings published by El Confidencial exist. This is not a fiction. That is, there was an initiative to destroy the person, the police institution, and the prosecutor who happen to be investigating alleged crimes committed by people close to the president. And there are three possibilities: that Ms. Díez acted on her own to render a passionate service to the party; that she perceived an atmosphere of revenge within the ranks of the PSOE and wanted to lead the revolt; or that some superior, from the Moncloa or Ferraz, asked her to organize that revenge.

Just like with the blackout or the train accidents, "all possibilities are open." And the explanations offered so far are not enough, assuming they can be called explanations. The progressive sphere must know that much more is at stake in this episode than in any other of the known scandals, and it must also know that this cannot be resolved with the hackneyed but predictable tactic of denouncing conspiracies. If political debate on such serious matters is limited to parading ghosts fabricated in image offices, it is because the PSOE has lost its sense of smell and sensitivity.

The person who should be grateful to Leire Díez is Miguel Ángel Gallardo, the man who, also out of patriotism, left the power of the Badajoz Provincial Council to occupy a modest seat in the Extremadura Assembly. It's not exactly corruption in the economic sense; but it is corruption in the sense of abuse of power. As Félix Bolaños pointed out, Gallardo's farcical episode isn't a crime, and having a special jurisdiction isn't impunity. But it is indecent, and that indecency is further compounded by the fact that it all seems—and perhaps is—a ploy to benefit the Prime Minister for his brother's position.

The government spokespersons—all the ministers who will run in the regional elections—are obeying the aforementioned mandate, which must be biblical in its obedience: only good things are the work of the Cabinet; everything bad is Feijóo's responsibility. Sánchez hasn't been in power for as long as he has in the Moncloa, but is a newcomer suffering from the difficult situation he inherited from Feijóo in Spain.

And society? The greatest success of Sánchez's PSOE is that society travels, builds long weekends, fills hotels and concerts, but politically it seems numb. From the outset, it lacks representatives to guarantee a vote of no confidence. June 8th will show whether it's as eager to overthrow Sánchez as Feijóo supposes. Many governments fell because of a revolution, but few because of a demonstration.

In any case, don't be fooled, Mr. Sánchez: the Ipsos poll for La Vanguardia detected a state of anger: for 41% of those surveyed, politics is the main problem in this country. Far more than housing, which is saying something.