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🇪🇸 Spain /Elections & Politics

Parliamentary Noise

From La Vanguardia · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Analysis Named sources Ongoing story
  • The article criticizes Spain’s government and opposition for their positions during the Ceuta crisis, while noting that the European Union has taken a similar approach toward Morocco.
  • It says the government and the EU are tempering their language because they view Morocco as an essential strategic partner in combating irregular migration.
  • The article invokes Manuel Azaña’s criticism of endless, demagogic parliamentary speeches to portray the current political debate.

Pedro Sánchez’s ability to buy time with Morocco is running out as the Ceuta crisis intensifies. Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Santiago Abascal have responded with increasingly aggressive attacks on the government, while its parliamentary partners have distanced themselves from the Socialists to avoid losing votes.

In other circumstances, I would have thrown them down the stairs, but it was advisable to temporize.

· Manuel AzañaAzaña described the restraint required while dealing with political, union, and military figures during the turmoil of 1936.

Yet the government is doing much the same as the European Commission. Like Sánchez, Ursula von der Leyen has softened her language because the European Union considers Morocco an indispensable strategic partner in the fight against irregular migration. In politics, delaying a decision can calm tensions or prevent a larger problem. But crises can spill over when those in power hesitate and the opposition believes that making matters worse could bring down its rival.

The article presents “contemporizing” as an unfashionable but often unavoidable political practice. It recalls Manuel Azaña, who led the Republican government during the turmoil that followed the Popular Front’s victory in February 1936. Forced to spend hours with radical politicians, excited trade unionists, and dissatisfied military officers, Azaña wrote in his memoirs, “In other circumstances, I would have thrown them down the stairs, but it was advisable to temporize.”

traitor

· Santiago AbascalAbascal used the term to attack Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez during the Ceuta crisis.

The article says Spanish politics leaves little room for such restraint. Abascal has called Sánchez a “traitor” and backed joining the People’s Party in seeking to invoke Article 102 of the Constitution to prosecute the prime minister for treason before the Supreme Court. Azaña also described Spanish politics as “parliamentary noise,” meaning endless speeches marked by demagoguery and poor moral standards. The article concludes that little has changed.

parliamentary noise

· Manuel AzañaAzaña’s phrase described endless parliamentary speeches marked by demagoguery and weak moral standards.
About this summary

Originally published by La Vanguardia in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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