Yes, there was room for more

Following the predicaments of his guide and master in these matters of lies, fallacy and exaggeration in the bad arts and lack of seriousness, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who, years ago, was caught with an open microphone by accident saying that "you have to put more pressure on society to be able to win", the character we are paying attention to these days must have considered that he was once again in the same situation and launched into his umpteenth theatrical, dramatic, almost stereotypical performance to deceive once again all of us who, mistakenly, loved him or had to listen to him, albeit with different interests and intentions. 

He took by the skin of his teeth a piece of news about the "arts and machinations" of his wife Begoña Gómez - which had not really been given much publicity, due to its lack of interest and the fact that for various reasons it had almost been overcome - and turned it into a personal, official, national and almost international "casus belli". Last Wednesday, he went into a feigned and overwrought rage and, immediately afterwards, sent a letter to the Spanish people, in which he announced that he was taking a period of personal reflection, to determine - together with his wife - whether he would continue in office or leave politics. 

The first big lie, because yesterday we learned from his own mouth that his wife knew nothing about the letter and even reproached him for having written and published it when she, like all of us, found out about its existence. 

In his canned, pretended, badly structured, badly read and not very credible speech yesterday in which he presented to us, without questions, the reasons for his continuity, the accumulation of lies, falsehoods, half-truths and nonsense he presented was extremely large and at the same time very dangerous. Nobody, absolutely nobody, has said before or after this melodramatic period - in the best and purest English style - that women cannot go into business and pursue their careers, but, above all, if these are well founded in knowledge, preparation and real and personal skills. No one wants to relegate them to a position exclusively between the pots and pans or doing housework. To claim that, as Sanchez did, is puerile, ill-intentioned, very dirty and totally unforgivable.  

Secondly, I would like to point out that, according to him, he has based his decision to continue in government on the "massive and warm" popular support received throughout Spain, when, despite the efforts of the like-minded media, we have all been able to see that no president has ever received such squalid, residual and unfocused support, despite the need for it and, above all, despite the melodramatic situations painted by his party, the entire government and the many media outlets he has totally devoted or sold out to his cause, and the efforts of some of his ministers to encourage popular exaltation, who should have their exaggerated and inelegant stance, bordering on a serious mental illness, which I do not dare to describe, taken into account.  

Finally, in this chapter of threats, barbarities and nonsense in the aforementioned speech, there is no place for a president of the Spanish government, who is supposed to belong to all Spaniards, to make clear differences between Spaniards in two opposing groups or blocs as his own and enemies, that he does not make any kind of self-criticism or explanation of what has happened and that he fills it with semi-veiled threats against groups or entities (the judiciary, the media and parties of the position) that do not agree with him, for the mere fact that they do not agree with his precepts and for denouncing and defending true democracy.  

The situation experienced this past week, with its final decision yesterday, is nothing more than a self-coup d'état with all the trappings of the law - for the time being unchaste - by fictitiously creating an untenable situation of incomprehensible harassment for those who exercise power with all the trappings of the law; which forces him to urgently take serious decisions and dictate, without further explanation, all the measures he deems necessary to defend himself and the institution and, after wrapping himself in the flag of his democracy, to do by imposition with "quasi manu militari", everything contrary to what this sacred word and concept entail. 

In view of what we have seen, we can see that, at least for Sánchez, there is room for more moves, despite the fact that the croupier is trying hard to stop us from betting on the table; but I fear that these moves, out of time and place, will have many serious harmful effects on the coexistence of Spaniards among themselves and, above all, could put an end to the democracy that we gave ourselves in 1978 with great enthusiasm and unanimity and which took so much effort, sacrifice and trouble to achieve. 

Perhaps this overreaction by Sánchez has served to alert the world of our peers, neighbours and equals that something big and out of the ordinary is happening here, and I would like the inoperative EU to stop focusing only on the economic problems of its members and some minor and unprofitable foreign policy dalliances, and to defend democracy and freedom of all kinds in its member countries and among them in their relations, as stated in its statutes and commitments.  

Hope, which I must confess, is very limited and taken with a pinch of salt, given that the continent is also going through a number of difficult problems and is facing an imminent, complex and complete electoral process. This fact has undoubtedly not gone unnoticed by Sánchez, in view of the moment chosen both inside and outside Spain to stage this performance, as he has done many times with his previous successful, albeit totally false and exaggerated, over-performances in which, unfortunately, he has been able to save his own skin.