The Shouting Returns

Spain’s political volume is about to rise again after a summer in which the temperature stayed unusually high. The column links that heat to the crisis in Ceuta, which it says could precede stronger Moroccan claims over Spain’s two North African cities.

That danger, in the writer’s view, should have encouraged cooperation between Spain’s two leading parties. Instead, the summer truce merely lowered the volume of insults and accusations. With the political season restarting, the disputes are expected to return to the courts and front pages.

The column anticipates renewed attention to cases involving Leire, José Luis Ábalos, Begoña Gómez and the partner of Madrid’s president. It also predicts more disclosures from the Civil Guard’s UCO unit and another round of the demoralizing political refrain, “and you more.” At the same time, it questions whether judges have been given too much room to intervene in political affairs.

The government of Pedro Sánchez, described as heavily worn down, is expected to hold on as long as possible because an early election would not help it. The opposition leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, is portrayed as impatient to reach La Moncloa while privately fearing that victory could again slip away.

The writer challenges Feijóo to explain what he would do if he wins rather than relying on attacks against Sánchez and calls for elections that become less likely each day. The column also says an amnesty for pro-independence leaders may eventually be applied, potentially allowing Carles Puigdemont to return to Catalonia, while noting that the embers of the procés have faded faster there than elsewhere in Spain.