[The Critic] The Strange Death of Spain
A power-hungry socialist Prime Minister has struck a deal with separatists that will dissolve the country as we know it.
Wherever Spain is headed once a looming confidence vote later in November likely confers another mandate on Pedro Sánchez, future historians will struggle to relate that trajectory to the way the month started. Even as the caretaking socialist PM unveiled his intent two weeks ago to cling to power with seven Catalan separatist votes at the price of flouting the Constitution, elsewhere the symbols, norms and traditions that have bound Spain since the 1978 transition proved alive and kicking — and won’t go down without a brawl. The dissonance peaked between October 28 (Saturday) and Tuesday last week. In just four days, our 40-year-old democracy gave at once signs of youthful sparkle and moribund senescence, of lurching perilously to suicide while proclaiming its resolve to live. In a country beset by venal leaders and centrifugal identities, the months since the July 23 general election delivered no clear winner may seem a preordained constitutional rollercoaster. With a tad more perspective, they could end up proving the death throes of a 530-year-old nation-state.
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