Well obviously signs are important in politics. Sometimes, even as important as acts. When José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero became prime minister, in 2004, what was the first thing he did? He announced the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq, after the huge demonstrations against the war and the tragic Atocha attacks. And, in 2011, when Mariano Rajoy arrived in the Moncloa government palace, what was his first message for public opinion? The biggest cuts to public spending in the history of Spanish democracy and a substantial increase in income tax. Zapatero and Rajoy both wanted to write their headlines in public opinion: ZP, the prime minister who took Spain out of the war; and Rajoy, the prime minister who rescued Spain from the financial crash.
These two examples marked the start of their premierships and showed their priorities. Most likely, they can also be used to analyse what will be left for the future as the first gesture from prime minister Pedro Sánchez: the announcement of Josep Borrell as foreign affairs minister, singling out his appointment first of all and distancing it from the rest of the signings for the new government. So singled out was his appointment that it was the only topic coming from the Moncloa all day, confirming the prime minister's decision and also broadcasting that Borrell had got in touch with the acting foreign minister, Alfonso Dastis, for an orderly handover of the ministerial portfolio.
Only neophytes or the naive could be surprised by Borrell's future nomination. The politician from La Pobla, a sympathiser of Societat Civil Catalana, gathers a series of unionist values which are now being valued ever higher in Madrid and which Sánchez, with his vote in the no-confidence motion, perhaps needs to recover as quickly as possible. Hammer, like no one else from PSOE, of the independence movement, and practitioner of a rhetoric which borders on insults, liked during last year's election campaign, when he didn't hesitate to annoy independence supporters talking of the need to disinfect Catalonia. On the other hand, it's quite the gesture towards Esquerra Republicana and PDeCAT, who voted for him to become prime minister. It's possible that Pedro Sánchez will be the prime minister of easing tensions some are talking of (and, above all, hoping for). But nominating Borrell is not just a provocation of the 17 Catalan pro-independence deputies. It's a mockery.
At least the much-debated votes from Jordi Pujol for José María Aznar in 1996 served to put Vidal-Quadras on ice. Politics is always in exchange for something. Otherwise, it's not politics. It's something else.