“Sanchez to prison!”

José María Aznar has set a new task for the Spanish right—the political right, the social right, the media right, and the administrative right that operates within the state apparatus: to put Pedro Sánchez in jail.

In combative Madrid, Aznar remains the thunder that speaks. The voice on high that points the way. Mortified like Captain Ahab , the former president always scans the horizon, always seems to be scrutinizing the extraordinary. He continues to cultivate powerful oratory and keeps the FAES Foundation alive, still the most efficient laboratory of political ideas in Spain.

In November 2023, he gave the order for a general insurrection against the Amnesty Law. "Whoever can speak, let them speak; whoever can do things, let them do them; whoever can contribute, let them contribute; whoever can move, let them move," he said at a FAES event attended by Alberto Núñez Feijóo . The slogan has worked. Its results are clear to see.

The phrase has become a meme and an interpretive key. Seven demonstrations in Madrid against the amnesty under the patronage of the Popular Party. Vox's intense National November , following Aznar's slogan. Whoever can do it, let them do it. Constant mobilization in the streets, in the media, and in important bodies of the state apparatus. The results are clear to see. The Amnesty Law was finally approved by Congress on May 20, 2024, and has just been validated by the Constitutional Court amidst a phenomenal uproar. In just over two months, the Spanish political situation has changed course. After the great blackout of April, everything has accelerated.

The PSOE is facing a tremendous hole. Its rock-solid Organization Secretary, the man who forged the pact with Carles Puigdemont in Brussels, is currently in Soto del Real prison, accused of leading a corruption scheme revealed by recordings of Koldo García , the former Civil Guard informant who ended up being part of the Peugeot team that was supposed to return Sánchez to the PSOE general secretary position in 2017. That Peugeot was inspired by Podemos: the revolt of the rank and file against those in power. Koldo was there.

Almost everything that could have exploded has already exploded, and Sánchez is now comparing himself to the captain of a ship in serious difficulty, to create an epic tale in its most difficult moment. A Conradian captain. Sánchez says he doesn't want to be Lord Jim , who abandoned a ship full of pilgrims bound for Mecca and regretted it his entire life. Yesterday, he lost another of the Peugeot's crew, Francisco Salazar . Of the original team, only Sánchez remains standing. The story, now, takes on the hallmarks of Joseph Conrad . Darkness is approaching.

After "whoever can do it, let them do it," Aznar launches another slogan: punish Sánchez harshly.

After calling for an uprising against the Amnesty Law, Aznar now says Sánchez will end up in prison. "If you negotiate budgets in a prison, associate with inmates, and negotiate an amnesty with criminals, don't be surprised if you end up in jail because that's your environment." The slogan has been launched.

Aznar didn't ask for Felipe González's imprisonment after having crushed him with the GAL. González was summoned to testify before the Supreme Court in June 1998, as a witness, for the kidnapping of Segundo Marey , and that was the end of it. The machine stopped. After rectifying economic policy on the terms demanded by Brussels and Washington in May 2010, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero quietly ended his term, and no one bothered him. We'll never know who Mr. Rajoy was.

Aznar now proclaims that Sánchez deserves to end up in jail. This is the main message emerging from the Popular Party congress. A few days earlier, Núñez Feijóo publicly proposed to Puigdemont that he reset the counter. It would bring about the fall of the government, and we'll talk about it later. Pay attention to the detail. Aznar didn't say that Puigdemont should go to jail. He spoke about Sánchez.

"Feijóo in the Face of the Extraordinary." This is the title of a note published last Monday by the FAES Foundation. A very well-written note by Miguel Ángel Quintanilla Navarro that, in summary, tells the president of the Popular Party the following: Believe it or not, victory is not yet assured. Anti-Sanchismo is not enough to win. You must equip yourself with a strategic project that appeals to a wide range of people and overwhelms Vox, which is Sánchez's last remaining hold. The PP must have a perfectly identifiable national project that coalesces the energy of discontent over the sudden collapse of the reputation of the reformed PSOE.

Under these circumstances, Aznar launches the slogan "Sánchez to prison!" Get over this, Abascal . The cry is no longer "Puigdemont to prison!" The message is different. A zero counter and punishment for Sánchez, for having crossed lines he should never have crossed. Punishment for Sánchez so he can reset the PSOE and lay the foundations for a policy of national consensus in the face of the winds blowing in Europe. Aznar has established a strategic position.

From here on, Feijóo may appear moderate, tactical, ambiguous, and semi-centrist; he may talk about accountants and put air conditioning on the communication channels with Junts and the PNV.

After the great blackout of April, everything has come to a head in Spain, three months for history

(Yesterday, Feijóo had the detail of naming his mentor, José Manuel Romay Beccaría , 91, as a member of the party's executive committee. A political school based on stillness. Knowing how to wait for the right moment.)