The Spanish government's collusion with the pro-independence parties, and in particular with Catalonia's ERC, was blown apart today by the defence minister, Margarita Robles, who in a question session went as far as justifying the political espionage suffered by Catalan and Basque independentists: "What does a state have to do when someone violates the constitution, or when someone declares independence or they encourage public disorder? What must it do when someone has contacts with those who have invaded Ukraine? What happens when websites like the SEPE [employment service] or ministers' mobile phones are hacked? You are now presenting yourselves as victims because it suits you." After contemplating this moment, there are Spanish cabinet ministers who admit in private that they raised their hands to their heads. The image of justice minister Pilar Llop, visibly uncomfortable next to her during the sesssion, was very revealing.
With a galloping crisis over a scandal of mass espionage against political dissidents, everything becomes complex. Catalan president Pere Aragonès has already demanded the minister's head. "She must take responsibility, the CNI was her responsibility; if she didn't know, she was incompetent; and if she did, she was violating the most basic democratic principles," he said. The demands for her resignation go beyond the pro-independence parties. Even junior government partner Unidas Podemos has insinuated that "heads must roll", without naming names - but firing shots at the defence minister.
All this will have immediate consequences. The timid initiatives of the Spanish government on the question have been completely insufficient for the pro-independence parties. In this context, the vote on the anti-crisis decree (the measures taken due to the economic effects of the Ukrainian war) arrives in the Congress of Deputies tomorrow. It should have been a placid vote and it has ended up putting Pedro Sánchez back on the ropes. The Spanish prime minister has cleared his agenda on Thursday and Friday, cancelling planned trips to Moldova and Poland, on the border with Ukraine. The parliamentary numbers are very complicated. The executive assumes that some parties will be voting in favour: the PDeCAT, the PNB, Más País, Compromís, Nueva Canarias, the PRC and Teruel Existe. But these are not enough. The vote is so tight that, late on Wednesday afternoon, the Spanish government announced that it would finally process this royal decree as a parliamentary bill so that parties could introduce amendments.
A month ago, ERC took it for granted that they would vote for it, even though it was insufficient. Now they think the opposite. Sources in the parliamentary caucus say that "it looks very bad". This morning there was a half-hour private meeting between ERC spokesperson Gabriel Rufián and minister Félix Bolaños, which according to these sources was a "disaster" without any progress. This evening there is to be a conclave in the Catalan party to set its position, and they do not rule out that it will take hours to decide. EH Bildu, the same: a meeting in San Sebastián. Despite the benefits of the measures contained in the decree, they are prepared to vote against it. And they warn that the rest of the legislative programme is in the air, from the reform of the "gag law" (Citizen Safety Act) to the new law on democratic memory. To the ERC and Bildu no votes, the negatives from Junts and the CUP must be added.
Caught in this political mire, the Spanish government is desperately looking for an alternative on the right, through the new People's Party (PP) of Alberto Núñez Feijóo. There have been several public messages from prime minister Pedro Sánchez in recent hours. According to PP sources, the minister María Jesús Montero also made a call to the Calle Génova headquarters to ask for support. These same sources say the party is open to supporting the decree if some of its measures are incorporated in the subsequent processing of the text. "There are 24 hours to go. It is the Spanish government that has to find the way. If they want to talk to us, we will dialogue," said the PP. This afternoon, the party's deputy secretary for economy, Juan Bravo, sent a letter to Montero proposing four measures: updating the personal income tax rates, reducing VAT on gas and electricity to 5%, speeding up the execution of the NextGenerationEU funds and rationalizing bureaucratic spending and the size of the central government.
A few hours later, the Spanish treasury minister, María Jesús Montero, presented the letter of response she had sent to Juan Bravo. In the letter, the Socialist opens the door to negotiations and expresses her willingness to process the royal decree as a bill, as the Spanish executive has ended up doing. At the same time, Montero stressed that they would like to reach agreements that "favour the citizens and the country as a whole." These consensuses between the two parties would be, for the minister for the Spanish treasury, an "effective way to exercise politics and show the usefulness of the representation given to us by the citizens." Regarding the measures that Bravo sent to Montero, the minister assures that they require "in-depth analysis" and that their "economic and budgetary impact" must be studied. In this regard, Montero is open to talk about the document sent by the PP, but also urges them to address issues such as the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary or the reform of Article 49 of the Constitution, among others.
Vote on official secrets board
A second important vote in Congress will take place tomorrow: the constitution of the reserved funds committee, better known as the official secrets committee. It has not been constituted for two years, due to the vetoes of the right to the presence of the Catalan and Basque pro-independence MPs. The regulation has had to be reformed to require only a 50% majority (176 deputies) and not support from 60% of deputies (210). Predictably, this vote should not cause any problems, despite protests from the right, and the far right of Vox.