As hopes grow that the coronavirus crisis is beginning to fall under control in Spain and a relaxing of lockdown measures may be in sight, the clamour of political dissent grows ever louder. The coronavirus is first and foremost a health and humanitarian crisis, but the Covid 19 fallout is about to become political capital.
As economic catastrophe looms in Spain, a nation heavily dependent on tourism, in which neither living standards nor employment figures have returned to pre-2008 levels. President Pedro Sanchez is appealing for collective efforts to avoid recession, minimise fatalities, and ease the economic and practical suffering of citizens. But his entreaties fall largely on deaf ears – in Spain the only uniting force is that which binds the three right-wing parties in resolute opposition to whatever decisions Spain’s ruling PSOE-Podemos coalition take.
That’s not to say that the opposition shouldn’t hold the government to account over its numerous mistakes. Mistakes have been made which have probably cost lives. This role is vital at the best of times, and in the midst of the coronavirus crisis it is essential that judgements and strategies of the government are scrutinised. But rather than analyse decisions, press for details or seek to inform the public, the response of the right has been to undermine, flout Covid 19 restrictions en masse, and make support for the President’s calls for cross party consensus on the economic and social route out of the crisis dependant on the removal from office of Pablo Iglesias, Vice President and leader of Unidas Podemos. At the same time, a mass online campaign of disinformation launched by the far right seems aimed at destabilising the progressive left alliance.
