It couldn’t be anyone else The country -official newspaper of sanchismo- the one who publishes the cursed documentary Moncloa. Four seasons. Four episodes directed by Curro Sánchez Varela that ended in 2023 and that no network or platform wanted to broadcast. Only subscribers will be able to see it prime to the Prisa newspaper, which pays 15 euros per month, because the private television channels refused to buy the broadcast rights and the companies that produced it, Secuoya Studios and The Pool, did not want it to be broadcast on public television. The documentary only seeks to humanize Sánchez and show him as he is not: empathetic, calm and very popular.
The series is called Moncloa. Four seasons. It is a four-episode production whose filming began in March 2022 and would last until March or April 2023. Initially, after the release of the trailer, the producers of the series, Sequoia Studios And The swimming pool, They denied there was an agreement between Netflix and the companies to distribute the content. They also said their wish was that he “not go on public television” because they were aware “of what that could entail.” His idea was to market it privately: “It is a documentary series with the intention of ending up on a private channel or platform.” Finally, after knocking on several doors of traditional brands and renowned platforms, they chose to entrust it to The country.
The newspaper Prisa says that it is a “cursed documentary” that no one wants because of social polarization. The truth is that after seeing the first chapter there is no doubt that Moncloa. Four stationsIt’s pure propaganda that would make Franco’s NON-DO blush: everything is cold, false and boring. And it’s even embarrassing to see Sánchez giving orders to his people as if no one knew that they were being recorded from every angle.
One of the most hilarious scenes is when he has breakfast with the accused Begoña Gómez. Not a show of affection, not a knowing look. Terrified by the presence of a camera, Sánchez, rigid and tense, pretends to read The World as well as the UCM fundraiser on April 5, 2023, during which Finland’s entry into NATO takes center stage. It is impossible not to watch the documentary and not remember Franco, this manthe 1964 documentary by José Luis Saenz de Heredia. They are like almost two drops of water 60 years apart.
This is the first episode
The chapter, entitled Spring: the price of warbegins with a visit to the La Moncloa Palace in the morning. We see the kitchens, living rooms, gardens and meeting rooms as the service staff talk about the place. It takes very little time to appear Pedro Sanchezunder heroic music, walking alone in the garden paths and the corridors of the building, head bowed and with the look of saving the world every second.
After a few credits reminiscent of those of Theft of money (you know, that famous series about thieves), we see how an employee collects the day’s newspapers from a kiosk and delivers them, already to Moncloa, to Jose Maria Posadaa palace boy who arrived to do 15 extra days in 1978 and who is still there. The chef also speaks, Jose Maria RocaBoth of them, who began working together, speak wonderfully about all the presidents who have existed in a democracy. “They treated us very well. They were very understanding with the cooking. Everyone loved to eat“.
And we move on to breakfast. ““I’m not going to eat much today.”Pedro Sánchez tells his wife, Begoña. They are both perfectly made up for the cameras, even though they have only just woken up. The table is full of newspapers and the president looks at them.
The cameras follow Sánchez to the council of ministers where characters like Miquel Iceta, Yolanda Díaz or Irene Montero appear there drinking coffee and chatting with their colleagues, then go to the meeting. There is a very curious moment when Iceta, laughing, tells Yolanda Díaz, in front of Sánchez, that the president should appear more like a victim to win the favor of the people: “He always looks very good.” Díaz responds that this is the task of his “always well-placed” leader. “Suffer, we suffer, Miquel,” replies Sánchez.
After the discussions and coffee, the ministers leave their cell phones outside the room and the meeting begins. The cameras are also not accessible.
Over the next few minutes we detail the history of the palace and learn that around 2,000 people work in Moncloa daily.
We are then presented Oscar Lopez, then chief of staff, whom his employees call “our orchestra director”. “The person closest to the president.” We see him with Sánchez walking in the garden, talking about the official agenda and commenting on “the good grades” obtained by the socialist leader’s daughter.
Ukraine and freedom of expression
And after almost twenty minutes of filming, we arrive at what is supposed to be the heart of the chapter: the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The problem is that -as happens throughout the episode- No tension or emotion is conveyed with what is being told. Despite the archive images of the war and the sound effects, everything seems corseted and measured. The officials and, of course, the president himself, appear to be talking heads trapped in a storyline.
They reveal to us how Sánchez prepared his intervention on the war in Ukraine. A succession of soulless scenes in which the president becomes didactic. We never see the person, we see a man who is constantly in sales mode, posing and faking his voice to make everything he says seem vitally important.
For those who doubt the politicization of the documentary, there is an interesting scene in which Sánchez discusses with his advisors the banning of several Russian media outlets that they considered “propagandist.” “We do not censor Russian journalism. The sanction concerns the operators and not the journalists. They want to make it very clear that they will never, ever attack press freedom…
The war with Podemos
The most interesting moment of the chapter is when we see the Minister of Social Rights and Agenda 2030 at the time, Ione Belarra, qualifying the Socialist Party as a “war party”; It is for this reason that Sánchez is considering whether or not to attend a Ministry of Equality event that will take place that day. Finally, the president agrees to leave because, for him, the feminist movement is more important. They do not dwell further on the war between the PSOE and Podemos. They only show how dedicated Sánchez supposedly is. No exists, in Moncloa. Four seasonsnot the slightest intention to question what is seen.
