In politics, the signals you send out say much more about your state of desperation than the statements you might make. At the end of the day, the words you utter are aimed at instilling spirit in your followers or, at least, conveying that you are in control despite the stormy sea on which you are sailing. Pedro Sánchez will take a total of 14 of his ministers to the Socialist candidacies. In fact, almost all the members of the current cabinet who hold Spanish Socialist (PSOE) portfolios will be there, except for the economic deputy PM, Nadia Calviño; the minister of justice, Pilar Llop, and the head of social security, José Luis Escrivá. Not quite a full quiniela football pools bet - which would be 15 in Spain - but almost, and the first reading it gives is that it's best to ensure that your travelling companions stay with you, by their winning seats in the Congress of Deputies, because the possibilities of a change of political colour at the hands of the People's Party (PP) and Vox are real.
It is this same idea which is pushing Sánchez to bring back past colleagues from his first period as head of government after the 2018 no-confidence motion, such as former deputy PM Carmen Calvo and ex-PSOE number three and minister, José Luis Ábalos. Another political signal in all this is the absence of star signings, inserting many who have had short-lived political careers, but who, on the other hand, brighten up the candidacies. This is also normal: it is necessary to accommodate too many party figures who have just lost their places due to the municipal or regional elections and the greatest guarantee of resistence in the future, when things are going badly, is the cushion that can be offered by the needy party figures that you have positioned.
It is clear that this need to fill the gaps whatever the cost and the policy of looking good in stormy weather is leading the Socialists to get into battles which I don't know if they will end up winning, but which do not make any sense. The clearest example is Barcelona and the determined efforts of the Socialist candidacy to explore alliances, or simply receive the votes of anyone to take the mayoral position. The frustration of Jaume Collboni in not having won the municipal elections, when he was convinced he would, is logical, just like that of Ada Colau or Xavier Trias. But the victory belonged to Trias and it is difficult to understand how Collboni is calling for PP votes to prevent his rival from taking power. This PP which resembles, according to the Socialists, a demon in any of its forms but which overnight becomes an angel if it offers the votes to block a pro-independence mayor and give the mayoralty to Collboni.
The dangerous game of undermining previous practices is even more dangerous when it has not been ruled out in public by the parties of the left they will not reach agreement with the far-right Vox councillors. I have not heard either Collboni or Colau say that they will not accept these two council votes for the absolute majority that they need and they must respond as soon as possible. At what point do the votes of the far right count as valid if the left can acquire them? Or is there a good Vox and a bad Vox? Another thing altogether is the claim of a left-wing majority of Collboni, Colau and Ernest Maragall which, in my opinion, is neither what the citizens of Barcelona voted for nor what the city needs, but within the logic of the Republican (ERC) preferences there is both an agreement with the left or with Xavier Trias.
A state of panic is not conducive to good decisions in any political moment, but the Catalan Socialists, who have had a very good result in the municipal elections and recovered their first place in Catalonia in terms of the number of votes in local elections, a circumstance that had not occurred since 2007, should not allow themselves to slip into the state of mind that hovers over their Socialist counterparts in Spain. Because mistakes usually have consequences.