Pedro Sánchez spent his Saturday in Barcelona in the time-honoured fashion: making no political proposals to address the conflict with Catalonia, recurring to the standard Spanish government argument that Catalan independence lacks a social majority and asking Catalonia's government to "move from monologue to dialogue" - a phrase which can generate a headline for people disconnected from the issue but is nothing but self-deception when heard from a Spanish prime minister who has been unable to table any specific political initiative on the issue since he took office.
Perhaps the prime minister will receive praise from some for his tone, which only makes it clear that the expectations that he will make a political proposal are nonexistent. The independence parties have stuck to their conditions of an agreed referendum and a solution for the prisoners and exiles. So much so, that the risk of ridicule if they were to respond to lesser offers is evident. Sanchez acts as though he has heard nothing, criticizes the independence movement for not finding agreement with the Catalonia that votes for other political options, and then considers the matter closed. As if to tell them: "Don't you realize that for you I am the least bad option". In the background is the murmur that Vox is coming, Vox is coming...
He did, of course, present the budget which his cabinet approved last Friday as a solution to the current social problems, and promised territorial investments of those which were to have been implemented years ago and never ended up being enacted, leaving the independence movement as the bad guys of the movie if they do not finally vote for his budget in the Spanish Cortes. Without worrying that the revenue side is a pipe dream because the total won't add up. Necessary, though, because otherwise his spending plans would end up collapsing like a house of cards.
Sánchez has got used to improvising and relying on good luck since he came into office. As if it were enough to simply try and create a more relaxed ambience that would slightly reduce or cushion the problems rather than solve them. To those confused voices from right-wing parties PP and Cs who want to force Spanish elections at all costs, he has already said that they need to be patient because he is going to govern until 2020. From a prime minister who has no parliamentary majority, with his main leglislative initiative, the budget, left high and dry and some of his regional barons sounding the war drums because of the approach of municipal and regional elections in May, one can't deny that a little confidence in himself is necessary.