The disclosure by newspaper ABC of a conversation between Spanish equality minister Irene Montero and a journalist for Basque television channel ETB, prior to an interview, filmed the day after the 8th March protest in Madrid, in which the Podemos politician spoke of coronavirus and how it had effected attendance, and also the risk of contagion from shaking hands or kissing, has put her in a compromising situation. The right, considered in its broadest sense - not just the politicians and media - believes that in judicial persecution it has found a thread that it will use to try and put as many members of the Spanish government as possible into the dock for their actions during the pandemic.
The fact that this was disclosed in an off-the-record comment should be of great concern to journalists in particular, beyond the ideology that each of us may have. In this profession there are - or were - few sacred things left, but one of the elements that had managed to come out unscathed so far was the idea that two people could have a private conversation, which on some occasions would be recorded prior to an interview, either because technical checks are being done, or due to some other circumstance. Although I consider Podemos's policies with respect to the government to be a swindle and am very critical of the party's capacity to acquiesce in return for the posts it was granted, this does not prevent me from stating my disagreement with the ambush staged against Irene Montero.
Perhaps the most negative part of the independence process in Catalonia is that it forced many people to take sides, albeit reluctantly. But between defending freedom or repression, the choice was not so difficult, even though it always ends up being complex for the press. Once it has become acceptable in politics to use any means necessary to score points against the adversary, now treated as an enemy, it was obvious that it was only a matter of time till the practice became more widely applied. The minister Montero is a victim of this, even though there are petty-minded interests which want to take what is a violation of her rights and portray it as a politician putting her foot in her mouth.
PS: Having said that, I also don’t understand how the Popular Party can call for the public prosecutor to take action on the matter and that both the PP and Ciudadanos demand that Montero has to explain her words and resign. Her words, beyond having been obtained by someone who breached the trust of an off-the-record chat, are not actually resignation material.