Like Scotland, Spain is facing its own political crisis

Spain is on the brink of a serious crisis of democracy

This last week has been one of political turmoil and personally, one that has left me with a bittersweet feeling of relief.

In the space of 24 hours, I saw the two places I call home facing a void in leadership right at the time when we need it the most.

While Humza Yousaf faced a vote of no confidence after deciding to part ways with the Greens, Pedro Sanchez, Spain's President - where I am originally from - took to social media to announce he was taking five days off to reflect on whether he wanted to continue leading the country.

As Spain faced a political pause, Scotland was facing its own upheavals. Since Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross announced he would launch a vote of no confidence in First Minister Humza Yousaf, the SNP has endured some of its most difficult days since coming to power. It set in train a series of events that has left the SNP facing its second leadership contest in less than two years.

Meanwhile, in Spain, Sanchez had said in his four-page long cri de coeur that the continuous unprecedented attacks from the right and far right on his wife, Begoña Gómez, had forced him to consider whether he wanted to continue. Gómez is currently being investigated for corruption, following a claim filed by a pressure group called Manos Limpias (Clean Hands) with links to the far-right.

To be honest, I was somewhat heartbroken by Sanchez’s decision, albeit temporarily, to back out. Last July's general election divided the country in a way that I had never seen before. Yet, following months of the worst political back and forth in decades, Sanchez managed to form a fragile minority government with support from parties including the pro-independence group Junts. It was a partnership he had secured after negotiating an amnesty law that had sparked serious protests nationwide as it pardoned those facing criminal charges for their role in the Catalan independence process. Yet at a time when he should be proving why it was all worth it, he is considering giving up.

It is simply a decision he could not afford to make. He is leading a country that is currently on the brink of a serious democratic crisis. Although I would not go as far as others to say that the president is a “drama queen”, as I am sure what is going on is indeed affecting his mental health, I believe being a leader is putting the collective’s needs before your own, and when the odds are 47 million to one, the decision seems quite clear.

While both Scotland and Spain were facing different yet comparable leadership debacles, fear ultimately made both situations completely different. In Spain, the possibility of Sanchez resigning ignited panic across the country. If he decided to leave, there could be a new general election, barely a year after the last one, which could bring the far-right group VOX closer to power. A party that wants to end all legislation, services and budgets allocated towards equality and against gender violence, a party that vouches to abandon the Paris climate change agreement, and a party that wants the immediate expulsion of anyone who enters the country illegally.

How has this happened? Well, unfortunately, judging from recent events, in times of crisis, political polarisation does seem to thrive. So, I couldn't help but feel disillusioned at the possibility that a country that managed to break free from a dictatorship less than 50 years ago, could so easily go back to being a place where human rights were an afterthought. Born in 2000s, I nevertheless grew up hearing stories about the fear of living under General Franco. As I write this, I can hear my mum saying, "Women were worth nothing back then", and I for one would like to continue associating home with safety. 

So, while no one took to the streets to call for Yousaf to stay, thousands in Spain marched to the sound of "Pedro quedate", (Pedro, stay). 

On Monday, as Yousaf stood in front of journalists and colleagues at Bute House to confirm that he was resigning, Sanchez reappeared at Moncloa to announce that he had decided to continue. Two different endings to two different political dramas.  

Yousaf had to go, after a string of bad decisions had entangled him in a seemingly never-ending political fiasco, but Sanchez had to stay. 

Opposition in Spain could be right in saying that it was all a political strategy to win over people’s sympathy, but it is nonetheless a strategy that has worked. So, although games and politics can be a terrible combination, I can't help but feel relieved.

This five-day self-imposed political hiatus may have showed me that perhaps Spain could eventually benefit from a change in leadership, but it is a change that, unlike Scotland, it can’t afford right now.