The tone of the communication between Spain's two "establishment" parties, the Popular Party (PP) and the Socialists (PSOE) has been getting steadily lower since PSOE leader Pedro Sánchez announced his plan to propose a no-confidence motion against the prime minister Mariano Rajoy. On Saturday, PP general coordinator Fernando Martínez-Maíllo warned Pedro Sánchez "that if he doesn't withdraw the motion, he will go down in history as the Judas of Spanish politics", since Sánchez's move amounts to "a betrayal of all Spaniards", he said.
The PP politician criticized Sánchez for going ahead with the no-confidence motion "by night" and with the sole intention of becoming prime minister, even if it "has to happen at the expense of Spain and Spaniards". Maíllo said Spaniards "don't want him" and "his party doesn't, either".
In fact, Martínez-Maíllo made an overture to the so-called socialist "barons" - the regional party heads - calling them "socialists of the good kind" - who backed the PSOE's abstention in the 2016 vote which allowed Rajoy's investiture as prime minister. He called on leaders such as Susana Díaz, Javier Lambán and Francina Armengol to "make Sánchez reflect". "I'm sure this doesn't seem right to them. "They should not remain silent," he said, "because they will be accomplices to the betrayal of Spain that this represents."
Held hostage by the independence parties
The PP general coordinator labelled Sánchez as "irresponsible" for wanting to govern Spain with only 84 deputies (in a 350 seat chamber) along with the support of those "who want to break up Spain" and the "heirs of terrorism" - referring to the Catalan pro-independence parties and the Basque independence party Bildu. "Will we see Pedro Sánchez going to Berlin to beg for Puigdemont's support?" mocked Maíllo.
"If the motion succeeds, Spain will be held hostage to the secessionists", he warned, also commenting on Friday's fall in Spanish stocks and rise in bond risk spreads. "He is a serious danger for the country, provoking instability and damaging Spain and Spaniards", he said.