A shot in the foot: Sánchez's serious errors in his Maricarmen 'agitprop'

This Friday, the Congress of Deputies rejected the two housing decrees approved by Pedro Sánchez's government on Tuesday.

Sánchez's tactic to cover up the invasion of Ceuta is the same one he used with Adamuz
The left's housing policies in Spain and the disaster they caused in Venezuela

A crude and desperate campaign to inflame public debate

In recent days, the coalition government of socialists and communists has played with fire, pushing public debate in Spain to the breaking point over the housing issue, driven by far-left groups (the very ones still illegally camped out in the Puerta del Sol). For Sánchez, this was a desperate opportunity to avert a socialist disaster in the upcoming general election; consequently, he had no qualms about breaking the law by having the Council of Ministers approve decrees that had not even been drafted, thereby exposing his penchant for underhanded tactics.

Driven by the desperate straits of his party, the PSOE—which is mired in corruption scandals and faces widespread outrage in Spain over its complicity with Morocco regarding the migrant influx into Ceuta—Sánchez unleashed a campaign of crude emotional manipulation centered on the eviction of a single elderly woman in Madrid, all while ignoring the thousands of evictions taking place in Catalonia, a region governed by the socialists. Both the government and the Left believed this was their chance to win back lost voters, but their own desperation led them to commit serious errors that ultimately turned the campaign into a self-inflicted wound for the Left.

The Left has opened a debate that reflects very poorly on the Sánchez government

For a century, the Spanish left has operated according to the "agitation and propaganda" (or "agitprop") patterns of Soviet communism; however, Spain is a democracy where crude attempts to emotionally manipulate the masses can fail in the face of solid evidence and rational arguments. "Agitprop" campaigns are effective in dictatorships, where the opposition faces the disadvantage of harsh repression that prevents it from airing its ideas. This is arguably the kind of authoritarian environment many leftists desire for Spain—starting with Sánchez himself, who has demonstrated a clear aversion to criticism and debate. Let us recall that not a single "State of the Nation" debate has been held during this legislative term because Sánchez has refused to expose himself to opposition criticism in Congress.

By initiating the debate on housing—and especially by doing so in such a deceptive manner—the Left has created an opportunity to review Sánchez's record on housing over the past eight years: nothing. Nothing, that is, in terms of positive measures—such as the construction of public housing (notwithstanding the absurdity of the State usurping the private sector's role) or the allocation of public land for housing development. As I have previously explained, Sánchez’s socialist policies have driven up rental prices and reduced the supply of rental properties. That is the inevitable result of favoring tenants who default on rent and even condoning the illegal occupation of homes.

An elderly woman who benefited from a Franco-era law repealed by the Socialists

The Left has been very clumsy in various respects. First, it chose to highlight an elderly woman who enjoyed privileged treatment under a Franco-era law that was repealed by the Socialists in 1985, marking the gradual end of "old-rent" tenancies—as they were known in Spain. Furthermore, the far-left's entry into this debate has been marked by a lack of touch with reality; they proposed solutions that would not only destroy the rental market (as happened in Venezuela) but were also incompatible with a fundamental right inherent to democratic nations: private property.

Absurd measures that drive away center-left voters

For years, Sánchez and his party have been stuck in a dead-end street they entered of their own volition. Held hostage by their pacts with the far-left, the Socialists have chosen to back their communist partners' most absurd housing proposals, believing the PSOE could reap electoral gains from doing so. Truth be told, what Sánchez has achieved is to fight over the scraps of the most extremist left-wing vote while alienating center-left voters—a large voting bloc that includes many small-scale landlords active in the rental market. Whatever the PSOE gains from the far left in this debate nowhere near compensates for what it loses in the center; yet Sánchez has shown himself to be an extremist who feels more at ease with zealots like himself than with more reasonable, moderate people.

A parliamentary defeat exposing the government's extreme weakness

In the end, the "Maricarmen" agitprop stunt resulted in a resounding parliamentary defeat that lays bare the extreme weakness of the Sánchez government, sparking a surge in rumors about a possible early election. The PSOE hopes that an early election might allow them to capitalize on the housing debate; however, what the Socialists have actually made evident is that they have done nothing to solve this serious problem in eight years, as they were too busy exhuming Franco’s corpse, pandering to the whims of their separatist allies, and instigating absurd debates—such as those that ultimately produced laws granting penal leniency to rapists and allowing men access to women's changing rooms (the infamous Trans Law).

Sánchez has shown little regard for the real problems facing the Spanish people over these eight years. Now, he faces an election while weighed down by a heavy burden of corruption scandals (affecting his own family and high-ranking party officials), railway chaos that resulted in two accidents and 47 deaths in January, the migrant invasion of Ceuta—during which his government acted like a servant to Morocco—and a long list of other issues, including his infamous pacts with the heirs of ETA and his amnesty for the 2018 coup plotters: a scandalous granting of legal privileges in exchange for separatist votes to secure his re-election in 2023.

Sánchez no longer has options that benefit both himself and his party

Right now, Sánchez faces a serious dilemma: the advantage he might gain from calling an early election is minimal, and could even turn into a disadvantage. This is because, as we have seen in recent days, the far left intends to settle the housing debate with mafia-style thuggery—an undemocratic attitude that the government has joined in on. Attempting to coerce the Spanish people in this way could be the second major "shot in the foot" the left inflicts on itself with this "agitprop," as it would mobilize a "fear-based vote" on the right—a tactic that has proven highly effective in recent decades.

Alternatively, Sánchez could choose to cling to power and make the most of the time remaining in his term to enjoy the luxuries of the Moncloa Palace and the Falcon jets to which he has become so attached. This would be the option most consistent with his view of politics, which prioritizes himself above Spain and everything else. For the Socialist Party, this would entail significant political erosion, as it would have to weather months of further corruption scandals and public outrage over the situation in Ceuta, among many other issues. Whatever he does, Sánchez no longer has any option that benefits both himself and his party. Whether a course of action benefits Spain is irrelevant, as Sánchez has amply demonstrated that the nation's interests and well-being matter little, if at all, to him.

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Photo: PSOE.