The political season is more or less over, with holidays for the deputies and their families until the next emergency comes along, or – with luck – until September.
Politics, or course, continues the year round, and the PP will be having their XXI National Congress from July 4th to the 6th (with the special presence of both José María Aznar and Mariano Rajoy). The Partido Popular says in a statement: ‘…While the Popular Party's conclave "will be one of unity" and will take place "in a context of absolute normality," the PSOE will hold its Federal Committee in a "diametrically opposite" situation, as a party that is "bleeding itself dry internally and cornered by countless cases of corruption".
Because, yes, the PSOE will be holding their own meeting on Saturday in their headquarters in Madrid, having changed the venue at the last minute from Seville. They will need to discuss the ongoing problems and corruption issues, plus find a substitute for the departed Santos Cerdán, who was abruptly jailed by Order of the Court on Monday.
This week, Seville was the host for the United Nations Conference on Financing Development. At least fifty world leaders gathered in Seville to address global concerns, including hunger, climate change and healthcare. The Americans (having closed down most of their USAID programs) gave it a miss. The smiling quartet of Pedro Sánchez and his wife, Felipe VI and his wife, welcomed the attendees. Spare a thought for Seville, which has been locked down with 6,000 extra police, drones and whatever version of robocop is currently in use.
The guests will be sure to notice that it’s bloody hot outside (42ºC on Tuesday). Perhaps some of those present will connect the dots and say: Eureka! Global Warming!
Then, finally, along comes the hols. Unless there’s a parliamentary recall of course. The senior politicians still have a way to go, since July is a kind of half-way month.
Normally, Pedro Sánchez and his family would be looking forward to their August break in the Government-owned estate of La Moreta in Lanzarote, and who could blame them, but the conservative president of the island Astrid Pérez has said (while no doubt playing to the gallery) that he’s not welcome there this year.
Not to worry. Around 2014, Pedro’s wife Begoña Gomez bought a flat in Mojácar Pueblo – and frankly, we don’t see enough of them here.
Mind you, taking a breather when you’re the boss is always tricky, even when the thermometers are shattering and, if there’s no one else, we can see that the Americans remain on the case. Right now, as Trump cooks up some fresh idiocy or other, General Greenway says he wants to transfer the 3,250 US military service-folk from Rota and Morón (plus their families) in favour of Morocco.
Público says that it’s not just Trump who is angry with Spain, there’s also the colourful Argentinian leader Javier Milei, and the bloodthirsty leader of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu. Between the three of them, plus their friend the Vox leader Santiago Abascal, maybe Sánchez would be wise to play it safe and remain in La Moncloa, the presidential palace in Madrid. Maybe hide under the bed. It’s also clear that he will be having to work (and plan) through his holiday if his government is going to continue until 2027.
