How time flies. Was it only just over six months ago that Spain last went to the polls?
Viewed differently, that’s four general elections in four years, or three since June 2016 – either way, that’s a helluva lot of electoral propaganda to pore over.
That would partly explain why this time around almost half a million weary voters formally refused election propaganda through the post, and why turnout was down by almost six per cent compared to the April 28 poll.
On Monday it appeared not much else had changed either following the PSOE’s slim victory, except to show that acting prime minister Pedro Sanchez was in an even weaker position than before after having lost three seats.
But then, as if by magic, we had white smoke on Tuesday. The PSOE decided in 48 hours what it had been unable to do in six months, and in a hastily convened press call, Sánchez and his left-wing UP partner Pablo Iglesias agreed to form an alliance.
The fact that the extreme right-wing Vox party had more than doubled its share of the vote from 24 seats to 52, making it the third largest party in the country, no doubt helped the two to overcome their hitherto irreconcilable differences.
But the fact is the new government will still have to rely on the willingness of a resurgent Partido Popular to abstain, and form alliances with Catalan separatists’ ERC in order to break the current deadlock. It’s a grim panorama.
One thing seems clear, though – there are too many small parties from both the left and right vying for votes, just ask Ciudadanos’ shell-shocked ex-leader Albert Rivera, who resigned after his party was effectively wiped-out in the election.
Political analysts have been scratching their heads as to why this happened, but it’s really quite simple – Rivera forgot what product branding is all about.
Initially launched as a more pragmatic, corruption-free, right-leaning centrist version of the PP, Ciudadanos evolved into a more reactionary group, but without the perceived ‘purity’ of Vox which makes no bones as to what it stands for.
There were also some helpful clues as to how the election would play out during the leaders’ much-publicised TV debate a week earlier.
Sánchez appeared to want to get the show over quickly and almost pleaded with opponents to agree to let whoever obtained the most votes govern if the election failed to produce a clear winner. Given that that person was likely to be him, no-one was willing to play along.
There was also a rumour that he wanted to hold the debate before the latest dire unemployment figures were released, but he shouldn’t have worried. If there is an even more emotive issue for Spaniards than high unemployment, it’s Catalonia.
In the same way Brexit has bitterly divided the UK, Catalonia has split the country like never before and given Santiago Abascal’s Vox party the stage he craves.
Looking like a cocksure bouncer, Abascal was the antithesis of Rivera, who was true to manic form. On this occasion, Rivera waved a chunk of paving stone allegedly ripped up from the sidewalk during one of the recent riots in Catalonia to make a clunky point.
It was meant to add drama to the proceedings, but the bizarre stunt only made him look foolish. By contrast, Abascal appeared urbane, civilised even, much like political extremists do before they get into full swing. He reasoned that the answer to Catalonia’s problems is to wave a humungous stick and use it to bash Catalan separatists into submission.
Abascal’s plans are as batty as they are far-reaching. He wishes to ban separatist parties, scrap the country’s autonomous regions, curtail free speech when it is deemed unpatriotic and make it illegal to mock national symbols such as the monarchy.
But at this juncture, it’s crucial to understand why Abascal’s rhetoric has tapped into the psyche of so many Spaniards.
There is a visceral fear in Spain that the secession of Catalonia would cause a domino effect and precipitate the country’s break up. This panic has stymied rational debate and explains why there is no real stomach to modify the constitution to allow the regions to hold referenda on independence.
But the election results should be seen as a warning – it’s proof that the country has grown tired of voting. What is urgently needed now in light of renewed protests in the region is a bold strategy to achieve some form of compromise to end the impasse in Catalonia.
The only way to do that is to change the constitution in a way that reflects the needs of a country very different to the one that existed three years after Franco’s death, when the original document was drafted.