The government has had a very difficult three months. Until the last minute, when Junts sent a message after Pedro Sánchez’s speech in which he used agreed keywords such as “negotiation” and not “dialogue”, the investiture was not completed. All this time, the executive branch has been on the defensive. The amnesty was on everyone’s mind. The executive branch remained silent so as not to disrupt the negotiations. The opposition showed its strength with very strong mobilizations on the streets. But this week things have changed a lot, as several government and PSOE leaders analyzed and even some opposition figures admitted.
The executive has taken office, the ministers have met, the coalition has begun to move – for the first time without Podemos in government – and Pedro Sánchez made his first trip to Israel, which caused intense controversy due to the diplomatic conflict came before. Benjamin Netanyahu unleashed this by accusing Spanish and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo of supporting Hamas’ “terrorism” because they criticized the indiscriminate bombings of civilians. After three months of negotiations and silence that gave the opposition all the space in its offensive against the amnesty, Sánchez and his team have once again taken all the space, the main goal of any government.
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Meanwhile, the opposition, particularly the PP, is focusing on reorganization due to changes in its leadership. In some areas of the PP they are convinced that the legislative period will be short and therefore believe that Alberto Núñez Feijóo must maintain maximum pressure. The idea is that the majority is so fragile that it will not hold out, and then comes the second chance for the PP, which sees how there seems to be a conservative wave around the world – Argentina and Holland being the latest examples – In Spain, however, this was not enough to force the left from power.
The PP is counting on the European elections in June as the big second opportunity to show strength against Sánchez. But in La Moncloa they take a completely different approach. “There is only one thing more difficult than setting up this investiture, and that is tearing it down. We have four years of stability ahead of us, a much longer period than the PP thinks,” they emphasize in those close to the president. “It will be a long time for Feijóo, it is impossible to maintain this tension for four years, he will have to think carefully, he will have to distance himself from Vox,” summarizes a minister.
The trip to Israel, widely seen as a way to show that there is already a government in place and with Sánchez regaining his international profile and reinforcing the idea that the legislative session is long, has once again caused major controversy among the opposition . In Belgium, the diplomatic crisis with Israel, like the one in Spain – the Netanyahu government makes the same accusation of collusion with terrorists against Sánchez and De Croo – has caused little media or political controversy, with the exception of some criticism from the Belgian government, according to The report Flemish nationalists from the N-VA, who accuse the prime minister of seeking Arab voters Silvia Ayuso. But in Spain the controversy has grown, with both Feijóo and Vox leader Santiago Abascal slamming the president for criticizing Israel’s indiscriminate bombings and for Hamas’s statement condemning the “courageous stance” of Israel Spanish Prime Minister praised Belgians.
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Supported by his Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares, who has categorically rejected Israel’s accusations of collaboration with terrorism, Sánchez and his team are outraged by the PP, which they accuse of siding with foreign governments in every crisis, be it in Algeria or in Algeria This one. But beyond these tensions with the PP, in La Moncloa they are convinced that Sánchez, by denouncing in Israel before Netanyahu the “unbearable” number of Palestinian deaths – more than 14,000, of which more than 5,000 are minors, according to Gazan health authorities located where the majority of Spaniards are, including a large proportion of PP or Vox voters. “Spanish society has always been pro-Palestinian, including right-wing. We all see the pictures every day, the bloody children; The president has linked himself to it,” says a minister.
Another recalls that the PP’s position was always similar to that which Sánchez now represents, and that Mariano Rajoy actually had significant tensions with Israel. So much so that in 2014, when the PP governed with an absolute majority, with the votes of the PSOE and the PP having agreed on the text, the Congress passed a bill stating: “The Congress of Deputies demands the government recognizes Palestine as a state.” It is José María Aznar, now out of the government, then Esperanza Aguirre and now Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who are turning to a PP position much closer to the Israeli right, who is now in power with Netanyahu. In fact, Feijóo had to weigh in this Saturday, and while he criticized Sánchez for the tensions with Israel, he also defended the respect for humanitarian law, saying that “the Palestinian people have the right to live in peace,” something very similar said by the President.
During the trip, Sánchez and De Croo were firmly convinced that their position lies at the heart of European societies and will be enforced in the end. This means clear condemnation of Hamas – they did so in every intervention, and they also went to Kibbutz Beeri, the epicenter of the October 7 massacre, and spoke to survivors and relatives of those abducted – but at the same time criticism of Israel for the indiscriminate bombings and for failing to protect civilians, especially children. “Violence only leads to more violence, the cycle must be stopped. “There is no military solution to this conflict,” the two said.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez posed for a family photo with his new cabinet before the first Council of Ministers of the 15th legislative period, which took place this Wednesday at the Moncloa Palace. Juan Carlos Hidalgo (EFE)
Sánchez and De Croo, who do not belong to the same political current (the Belgian is liberal), took an equally tough stance in Rafah, on Egypt’s border with Gaza, calling on Israel to seek a final ceasefire and stop the deaths of innocents, but they also brought theirs Expressed solidarity with the Israelis under attack, and Sánchez said he was moved by a young survivor who returned to the kibbutz with the intention of rebuilding it. “This young man just wants to live in peace where he belongs,” he concluded. On the plane, Sánchez seemed very convinced that this position is what the majority of Spanish and European society wants. In La Moncloa they do not attach importance to the Hamas statement because Sánchez has condemned the attacks and will continue to do so. On the contrary, they believe that the president has made his position very clear and that it is Netanyahu who is raging, accusing him of collaborating with the terrorists.
The executive will now multiply its political and economic agenda and is confident it can move the conversation away from the single issue of amnesty. There is still a lot of talk, and even more so this week, when Santos Cerdán (PSOE) and Carles Puigdemont (Junts) are due to meet the international examiner for the first time in Geneva. But the agenda of a government already in office will begin to compete with the issue that most interests the opposition. This Sunday, Sánchez will take part in an event in Madrid to pay tribute to the militants and the homes of the people, which will also be attended by former President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. And this week, in which Felipe VI. with a solemn ceremony will open the legislative period, negotiations will begin with the employers’ association on the increase in the minimum wage in 2024, led by the team of Yolanda Díaz, and there will be a deployment of investments with the inauguration of the variant of Pajares with the King and Sánchez, in addition to Óscar Puente, the new minister, one of the lightning rods that the president has placed so that it does not happen as in the previous legislature, when all the arrows were against him. The main shield will be Félix Bolaños, the government’s strongman, but also the speaker Pilar Alegría and others will be there for this task.
The first Council of Ministers also showed that without Podemos in the executive branch everything will be different. The atmosphere has changed significantly, some veterans emphasize. The coalition has vowed to avoid sustained anger and engage in internal political battles, of which there will be fierce ones. Everything is beginning to rearrange itself after months of holding our breath at the threat of a repeat election. There is still no simple answer to the crucial question of whether the strategy of all those involved will endure. But all of Sánchez’s moves seem aimed at giving a clear answer: This will take a long time.
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