The former PP minister presents ‘Spain in its labyrinth’ in Valencia, a work in which he links national problems with the radicalization of the PSOE
When did Peru get screwed? It is the first question asked by José Manuel García-Margallo, former Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Government of Mariano Rajoy and former Deputy in Congress for Valencia and Alicante, in his book ‘Spain in its labyrinth’ that this Thursday he presented in Valencia accompanied by the president of the Valencian PP, Carlos Mazón, and by the institutional deputy secretary of the national PP, Esteban González Pons.
García-Margallo addresses this question in which he paraphrases the famous quote by Mario Vargas Llosa and transfers it to the national scene. And his diagnosis is blunt. Spain “was screwed” in 2003, when José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero agreed with Catalan nationalist parties “do not negotiate anything with the PP neither in Catalonia nor in Spain”. A pact that for the former minister meant a “blasting of the spirit of the transition”, when there were “two central and centered parties”, he says in reference to the UCD and the Socialists.
In addition to this breakdown in dialogue, the second cause that Margallo detects is the “radicalization” of the PSOE. First with Rodríguez Zapatero and now with Pedro Sánchez. He accuses the first of “turning a party that was social democratic” into a “radical” one dedicated to “Captain groups that feel ignored by history”. A trend that “explains” the “cultural battle” that it claims is now being waged by socialists with the LGTBI struggle, “radical feminism” or “extreme environmentalism.”
But the most worrying thing for Margallo is that the PSOE has become the “crutch” of the peripheral formationswith whom he understands that he has a pact “so that the nationalists govern in their territories in exchange for giving their support in Congress. A turn sharpened also by the influence of Podemos, now in the Government. “Sánchez has become more podemita than themselves,” says Margallo.
Vox does not radicalize the PP
Nevertheless, that tension generated for the PSOE by the emergence of Can it is not replicated in the case of the PP and Vox. Asked about this, Margallo defends that “there is not a single act of the Government of Castilla y León (territory where popular coalitions and ultras govern) in which the red lines of the PP have been infringed.” The former deputy gives some examples of those limits that he denies having crossed at the hands of the extreme right: “separation of powers, equality, gender violence, climate change, vaccination or Europeanism.”
As for the future, Margallo detects a return to the political center on the national board. “It’s a fact,” he says.. Another thing is the international arena, where he is not so optimistic when pointing out that “liberal democracies are in clear decline.”
Nor does he forecast a good evolution of the economy, especially considering the news coming from the US. The country is on the verge of recession and Margallo warns that “what happens there reaches Europe three or four months later.” In addition, it highlights that this situation catches Spain “at a very bad time” due to its high level of structural unemployment, its low productivity and the imbalance in public accounts, where the structural deficit is around 6% compared to 0, 5% recommended by Brussels.
Confidence in Carlos Mazon
At the local level, Margallo has supported the work that Carlos Mazón is undertaking since he became president of the PPCV just over a year ago. He affirms that “he is doing well” despite the “added difficulties” that “being in the opposition and also not being a deputy in the Corts” entails and applauds the “effort” being made by the man from Alicante, whom he admits is “little known” in the provinces of Valencia and Castellón.