Isabel Díaz Ayuso and Salvador Illa represent two ways of practicing politics, communication and, one might say, also two antagonistic ways of understanding life. The Madrid president took advantage of the disorder in which the PP found itself, all alone, with the validation of the convictions abroad to attack the government (okay, this should not be news) and accuse it of “working for Bildu”. Subscriber to permanent exaggeration, she once again goes to the limit: “ETA is stronger than ever. »
Few lies are dismantled more quickly. Fortunately, it has been more than six years since the final dissolution of ETA was announced and 13 years since the terrorist group stopped killing. The president of Covite, Consuelo Ordóñez, sister of the PP councilor of San Sebastián Gregorio Ordóñez, assassinated by the gang on January 23, 1995, responded by recalling that “there is no better moment for this country than since ETA has stopped killing.” And he called anyone who said otherwise “miserable.” It’s difficult to find a more appropriate adjective to define the words of the Madrid president.
The leader of the PP practices politics in the worst way, always looking for anger. Unfortunately, it is a formula that gave her good electoral results because by copying the style and more than one speech of the far right, she stopped her rise in Madrid. Why vote for Vox with Ayuso?
The antithesis of the style of the Madrid president would be that of Salvador Illa. On the same day that in the Spanish capital the political debate focused on punishing the terrorists of a dissolved gang, in Barcelona the President of the Generalitat, during his first general policy debate in office, focused his speech on housing. . After ensuring that its objective was to cling to “reality” and recognizing that nothing is easy, Illa announced a battery of unprecedented measures with a very ambitious objective: investing 4.4 billion euros to achieve 50,000 additional social housing units before 2030.
The president wants to take advantage of the favorable situation of the socialist governments in Moncloa and on both sides of Plaza Sant Jaume, as well as several town halls in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, to achieve this. The recipe, in summary, is to bring together as much land as possible, across municipalities and state-owned land, and reduce bureaucratic procedures to build new sheltered housing. They also want to create a public fund of 500 million over five years to finance 20% of the costs of purchasing 12,000 homes for those under 35.
Housing experts, such as the economist Carme Trilla, have diagnosed the problem in depth, which is essential to find solutions: the expansion of the existing social rental stock requires the mobilization of part of the housing in the hands of large owners, but also by new constructions. And above all so as not to fall back into the mistakes of the past and not set an expiration date (i.e. being able to sell) to protected housing. In Catalonia this has been happening for several years, but in Madrid rental housing protected for ten years continues to be built.
It took a lot, too much, for the majority of political parties to understand that the big problem in Spain today is inequality and that access to housing is the origin. It is obvious that there are groups (PP and Junts are two obvious examples) that continue to act as if the right that we Spaniards, or some Spaniards, have is to speculate instead of legislating so that the right to a decent roof is respected. . The PSC is also not there to give many lessons and if there is a lack of housing in cities like Barcelona it is also because a large part of the public stock has been vacated. This data serves as an example: the province of Barcelona lost 50% more protected housing in 2022 than it had generated.
Illa’s announcement still leaves some questions unanswered. What role does the government want to play in Sareb and the more than 12,000 apartments (2022 data) that it owns in Catalonia, following the public sector’s handling of the latest private sector real estate crisis? ? How much of all these houses in Illa’s plan will be affordable social housing? How can we ensure that the government’s “offer” to the private sector to buy or lease all its new construction projects in high demand areas does not end up being another bailout for the private sector to guarantee a fundamental right?
The flagship measure announced by President Ayuso to launch this course was the creation of a care center for male victims of sexual violence. According to data from the latest report from the Ministry of the Interior on crimes against sexual freedom, in 2023, 86% of victims were women and 14% men, while the proportions are reversed if we talk about attackers. 93% of them are men and 7% women. Experts on sexual violence have warned that the proposal is poorly targeted and could be characterized as opportunistic. It is a type of violence that exists but not in the terms with which Ayuso spoke of it. That he chose this advertisement and not another responds to his strategy of mowing the field of the favorite lands of Abascal and disciples like Alvise.
The president of Madrid sells her management as an example of success. And this is aimed at those among the highest income earners. The absence of wealth tax, exemptions from inheritance tax and reductions in regional income tax rates work in their favor. A paradise, but a tax one. And even more so if we compare this to the pressure that exists in Catalonia, a model that PP and Junts agree to define as “fiscal hell”. Then we are surprised that a survey reveals that half of Spaniards do not know that public health is financed by taxes.
Beyond doubts and while awaiting the details of the plan announced by Illa, in Madrid and Catalonia, we must reduce inequalities and this will only be possible if wages fall below, if those who earn the most pay more and if access to housing is possible. is made easier for groups for whom it is now illusory to stop sharing an apartment or to be able to access suitable housing. That’s the problem, not the ETA.
