Just think about it for a moment. A political party which is not actually in government insists that there should be a "political audit" of a ministry and that this particular party should take part in this audit.
A government should accede to processes of transparency but it should do so without demands and threats being made. This is what Podemos are doing. They have stepped back from voting with the PP and others in censuring the tourism minister, Biel Barceló, but are instead now wanting to control his ministry. Given the issues that have arisen at the ministry, the principle of auditing isn't in itself wrong, but the manner in which it is going to be done is.
Leaving aside allegations of suspicious practices at the ministry, Barceló - as we know - has presided over key items of legislation and of ongoing policy. We knew at the start of the current administration that there would be a tourist tax and that holiday rentals would be subject to new regulation. What we didn't know was the detail. We need to ask ourselves how much both policies have been determined not by Barceló but by Podemos. And the questions are germane. If voting were to go in a certain way in 2019, the current pact could be returned. Podemos, under the new general secretary, Mae de la Concha, have said that they will enter the government. If they were to, a prize - the prize - would be tourism.
Barceló has hinted that there may no longer be the need for a tourism minister or ministry because of the transfer of responsibilities to the island councils. Even if this were to be the case, there would still be a brief, and in the hands of Podemos, I would suggest that tourism in Mallorca and the Balearics would be open to great damage being caused. And if tourism at the island councils were to likewise become Podemos fiefdoms, the grip would be tightened further.
Consider the progress of legislation and policy. Did Barceló himself want to double the tourist tax? His statements suggested that at one time he was undecided as to whether there should have been any increase let alone a doubling. Podemos entered the equation in a forceful manner. Their agreement for the 2018 budget rested with an alteration to the rate of the tax - an upward alteration, a doubling.
With the rentals legislation, it was Podemos who initially blocked it. They did so because of an insistence on including the clause about emergency housing. This can in effect mean that bans on rentals can be enforced on the pretext of there being a crisis in the availability of regular rented accommodation. Palma and Ibiza Town have been specified in this regard, but that doesn't mean that this provision couldn't be applied elsewhere.
The Podemos attitude towards tourism and to its components has been made clear enough in the past. The party's parliamentary spokesperson, Alberto Jarabo, once referred to Balearic hoteliers as "ventriloquists in the shadows". The chief Podemos tourism thinker is a chap called Eric Labuske. His vision for tourism entails a fifteen-year strategic plan that would incorporate "social, cultural and environmental values", however these might be defined.
With the political audit, Podemos would assume virtual ministerial powers. Following the next election, these may no longer be virtual.
Showing posts with label Podemos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Podemos. Show all posts
Friday, November 24, 2017
Sunday, October 08, 2017
Khaleesi Of Podemos
Now, it is just conceivable that, because of the spot of bother there's been in Catalonia, you were unaware of a referendum closer to home; if you are one of those who chooses to call Mallorca and the Balearics home, that is. This was the citizens' referendum for Podemos. The faithful were called upon to select the successor to Alberto Jarabo as gen-sec in the Balearics.
Prior to the fateful deed being done, The Four Feminists Of The Apparatchik (i.e. the candidates) communed with the citizens in a room at Palma's CineCiutat. I know I've suggested that Laura Camargo could get a part in a David Lynch film, but this hardly inspired confidence. I mean, it's not as though the cinema's that big in the first place. One room? How few citizens could there have been?
Anyway, they were presented one by one: María Asunción Jacoba Pía de la Concha García-Mauriño (and yes, she is just one); our good friend The Boot Girl, Laura; Cristina Gómez; and, erm, a bloke called Jorge Sans. I think you can probably guess that Jorge was on to a bit of a loser, which proved to be the case (3.1% of the vote). Still, he tried manfully, or should one say, womanfully, in insisting that he represented the candidacy of "the bases", which is the arcane term they use for meaning supporters. Jorge added that a new stage was starting for Podemos: one of union to win the 2019 elections, of recovering "visibility" on the streets" and of being "well feminised".
In this regard, Jorge was unlikely to have ever really made it off the starting blocks. He did have one very slight disadvantage - being a he. Therefore, he was somewhat out of place when the foursome had a "femi-café" (whatever that is) prior to their presentations to the citizens. As to visibility, it's reasonable to assume that Jorge will remain largely invisible, which is not what can be said for Granny Mae. Yes, María Asunción Jacoba Pía de la Concha García-Mauriño (for she is Granny Mae) limped to victory: 47.6% of the vote. Jorge had been put firmly in his feminist place, but The Boot Girl was a mere six per cent behind as Granny crossed the finishing line.
The result will have had capitalists breathing a sigh of relief. Granny is from the Jarabo wing of not being entirely anti-capitalist, unlike Laura, who is - and 101 per cent so. The spectre of leading hoteliers being shackled by the wrists and ankles and frogshuffled off to re-education camps in fields in the general vicinity of Sineu was thus averted.
And what did Laura make of it all? Well, prior to the vote, she had said that they should all go forward side by side. "The collective is greater than the individual (she must have known something) and let's not elbow each other." Quite. Stick the boot in instead. Which is rather what Granny Mae achieved - just about.
Granny's victory does require some explaining. Laura is, after all, very much better known. She spends every breathing parliamentary moment berating anyone she claps eyes on, a terrifying experience that turns all pro-capitalist anti-feminists into gibbering wrecks. With such credentials, surely she should have cleaned up the vote. Ah yes, but we shouldn't perhaps have underestimated the wise summary of The Judge.
Juan Pedro Yllanes, you may have forgotten, was a senior judge. So senior was he, that he was originally going to have been the presiding judge at the Princess Cristina-Iñaki trial. He opted instead to get elected to Congress for Podemos, and his views come with the forensic insight one might expect of his profession. He delivered his verdict. Laura's project was one integrated with the United Left (communists) and anti-capitalists: it was one of "pure extremism". Ouch. Moreover, said The Judge, Laura has no intention of actually formally joining and being a part of the Balearic government. Granny, on the other hand, does have such an intention, which will either sound like good or bad news: the latter, if you happen to be President Armengol.
Meanwhile, it would seem that we are going to have to get used to Granny Mae adopting an alternative moniker. I give you, in all seriousness, Khaleesi. Yes, according to her support base, she is "our Khaleesi". For any of you unfamiliar with this reference, it is to Daenerys Targaryen Khaleesi, the character played by Emilia Clarke in Game Of Thrones. And if you are also therefore unfamiliar with what Emilia looks like, then I recommend that you Google her.
Why is Granny Mae their Khaleesi? Well, notwithstanding the fact that she bears absolutely no resemblance to Emilia, there is the small matter of Khaleesi being the Mother of Dragons. Respect does prevent me from making any comment about old dragons or Peggy Mount, but let us therefore assume that fire will be breathed. Oh dear, Francina, consensus and dialogue won't be much defence when that happens.
Prior to the fateful deed being done, The Four Feminists Of The Apparatchik (i.e. the candidates) communed with the citizens in a room at Palma's CineCiutat. I know I've suggested that Laura Camargo could get a part in a David Lynch film, but this hardly inspired confidence. I mean, it's not as though the cinema's that big in the first place. One room? How few citizens could there have been?
Anyway, they were presented one by one: María Asunción Jacoba Pía de la Concha García-Mauriño (and yes, she is just one); our good friend The Boot Girl, Laura; Cristina Gómez; and, erm, a bloke called Jorge Sans. I think you can probably guess that Jorge was on to a bit of a loser, which proved to be the case (3.1% of the vote). Still, he tried manfully, or should one say, womanfully, in insisting that he represented the candidacy of "the bases", which is the arcane term they use for meaning supporters. Jorge added that a new stage was starting for Podemos: one of union to win the 2019 elections, of recovering "visibility" on the streets" and of being "well feminised".
In this regard, Jorge was unlikely to have ever really made it off the starting blocks. He did have one very slight disadvantage - being a he. Therefore, he was somewhat out of place when the foursome had a "femi-café" (whatever that is) prior to their presentations to the citizens. As to visibility, it's reasonable to assume that Jorge will remain largely invisible, which is not what can be said for Granny Mae. Yes, María Asunción Jacoba Pía de la Concha García-Mauriño (for she is Granny Mae) limped to victory: 47.6% of the vote. Jorge had been put firmly in his feminist place, but The Boot Girl was a mere six per cent behind as Granny crossed the finishing line.
The result will have had capitalists breathing a sigh of relief. Granny is from the Jarabo wing of not being entirely anti-capitalist, unlike Laura, who is - and 101 per cent so. The spectre of leading hoteliers being shackled by the wrists and ankles and frogshuffled off to re-education camps in fields in the general vicinity of Sineu was thus averted.
And what did Laura make of it all? Well, prior to the vote, she had said that they should all go forward side by side. "The collective is greater than the individual (she must have known something) and let's not elbow each other." Quite. Stick the boot in instead. Which is rather what Granny Mae achieved - just about.
Granny's victory does require some explaining. Laura is, after all, very much better known. She spends every breathing parliamentary moment berating anyone she claps eyes on, a terrifying experience that turns all pro-capitalist anti-feminists into gibbering wrecks. With such credentials, surely she should have cleaned up the vote. Ah yes, but we shouldn't perhaps have underestimated the wise summary of The Judge.
Juan Pedro Yllanes, you may have forgotten, was a senior judge. So senior was he, that he was originally going to have been the presiding judge at the Princess Cristina-Iñaki trial. He opted instead to get elected to Congress for Podemos, and his views come with the forensic insight one might expect of his profession. He delivered his verdict. Laura's project was one integrated with the United Left (communists) and anti-capitalists: it was one of "pure extremism". Ouch. Moreover, said The Judge, Laura has no intention of actually formally joining and being a part of the Balearic government. Granny, on the other hand, does have such an intention, which will either sound like good or bad news: the latter, if you happen to be President Armengol.
Meanwhile, it would seem that we are going to have to get used to Granny Mae adopting an alternative moniker. I give you, in all seriousness, Khaleesi. Yes, according to her support base, she is "our Khaleesi". For any of you unfamiliar with this reference, it is to Daenerys Targaryen Khaleesi, the character played by Emilia Clarke in Game Of Thrones. And if you are also therefore unfamiliar with what Emilia looks like, then I recommend that you Google her.
Why is Granny Mae their Khaleesi? Well, notwithstanding the fact that she bears absolutely no resemblance to Emilia, there is the small matter of Khaleesi being the Mother of Dragons. Respect does prevent me from making any comment about old dragons or Peggy Mount, but let us therefore assume that fire will be breathed. Oh dear, Francina, consensus and dialogue won't be much defence when that happens.
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Podemos At The Government Crossroads
Will they or won't they? Alberto Jarabo, for now still the leader (general secretary) of Podemos in the Balearics, says that the party will enter the Balearic government this autumn. He says this, or so it would appear, on the authority of the national organisation, and Pablo Iglesias in particular.
Something of a game-changer has occurred in Castile-La Mancha. The PSOE president of that region - Emiliano García-Page - has been unable to get the budget approved. In order to do so, Podemos are entering the government. In the Balearics, Podemos have already started to set out demands for the 2018 budget, most obviously their call for a doubling of the rate of the tourist tax. If this cannot be agreed, it has been stated, they will not approve the budget. A similar situation to Castile-La Mancha could therefore obtain.
Podemos, once upon a time, had a policy of not joining administrations led by PSOE. The socialist party was as much of a target for Podemos as the Partido Popular was. PSOE was part of the reviled "casta", a corrupt two-party-dominated system. It was also a party from which Podemos could take their electoral pickings more easily. Being ostensibly left-wing, it represented a more direct target than the PP. Already shaky, PSOE suffered at the elections: a reflection of its inherent weakness, the enduring product of the socialist government's handling of the crisis, and of the arrival of a different type of political grouping, i.e. Podemos.
There was never total consistency in this Podemos policy. They became part of the Council of Mallorca's administration in 2015, just as they did at Palma town hall and in other municipalities. Governments - regional and national - were a different matter. However, this inconsistency has enabled Podemos to cut their teeth in lesser administrations and to get the electorate used to their presence. By not being in government per se, they have sought to appeal to the electorate as the body which holds PSOE (and Més) to account while at the same time acting as a sort of shadow element of government. This off-stage influence of the government is one reason why some in PSOE have bridled at what they see as Podemos's undisguised "moral superiority".
Within Podemos ranks, there is still disagreement about joining governmental forces with PSOE. The far-left anti-capitalist faction has opposed the development in Castile-La Mancha. Laura Camargo, who is the likely successor to Jarabo, is part of this faction; Jarabo is not and nor is Pablo Iglesias. Jarabo says that the possibility of Podemos entering the government is not one that he has conjured up; it is the national organisation which has raised the possibility and that the Podemos citizens' council in the Balearics would have the final say. Perhaps so, but if Camargo does become general secretary, the possibility - one would assume - would disappear. No firm decision will be made until the election of Jarabo's successor. Jarabo doesn't really want Camargo to follow him.
In an interview at the weekend, Francina Armengol made clear that she has no interest in there being a remodelling of the government to facilitate Podemos. In 2015, Podemos decided not enter the government because they didn't trust PSOE. Armengol believes that there is greater trust now, but she remains committed to how things are. The problem would arise, however, if the budget for 2018 couldn't be approved. Armengol insists that the situation is different in the Balearics. Budgets and important laws have been approved and passed. They may well have been, but this doesn't mean to say that they will be in the future. She also faces the ongoing matter of the Més contracts, and the possibility of Biel Barceló being cited by a judge. Camargo has said that Barceló's continuation as vice-president and tourism minister is reason alone for not entering the government. Were he forced to resign, though, this particular situation would change.
For Podemos, the ambition is to govern. The dash to power in 2015, although impressive, was not as strong as Podemos might have hoped. They didn't achieve a "Macron" and as time goes on, it becomes increasingly difficult to believe that they ever will. As it is, they may well have plateaued; forced, just like PSOE, to join alliances. Neither of the two principal issues which brought them to the fore - fighting corruption and austerity - has gone away. But they haven't managed the real breakthrough they might have wished. Ciudadanos, with the same issues but from a different political perspective, appear to be going backwards. The same might happen to Podemos. Without genuine, direct involvement in government, the electorate might just tire of them and of their influence of policies without responsibilities for them.
If Podemos seriously want to be part of the Balearic government, it might be now or never.
Something of a game-changer has occurred in Castile-La Mancha. The PSOE president of that region - Emiliano García-Page - has been unable to get the budget approved. In order to do so, Podemos are entering the government. In the Balearics, Podemos have already started to set out demands for the 2018 budget, most obviously their call for a doubling of the rate of the tourist tax. If this cannot be agreed, it has been stated, they will not approve the budget. A similar situation to Castile-La Mancha could therefore obtain.
Podemos, once upon a time, had a policy of not joining administrations led by PSOE. The socialist party was as much of a target for Podemos as the Partido Popular was. PSOE was part of the reviled "casta", a corrupt two-party-dominated system. It was also a party from which Podemos could take their electoral pickings more easily. Being ostensibly left-wing, it represented a more direct target than the PP. Already shaky, PSOE suffered at the elections: a reflection of its inherent weakness, the enduring product of the socialist government's handling of the crisis, and of the arrival of a different type of political grouping, i.e. Podemos.
There was never total consistency in this Podemos policy. They became part of the Council of Mallorca's administration in 2015, just as they did at Palma town hall and in other municipalities. Governments - regional and national - were a different matter. However, this inconsistency has enabled Podemos to cut their teeth in lesser administrations and to get the electorate used to their presence. By not being in government per se, they have sought to appeal to the electorate as the body which holds PSOE (and Més) to account while at the same time acting as a sort of shadow element of government. This off-stage influence of the government is one reason why some in PSOE have bridled at what they see as Podemos's undisguised "moral superiority".
Within Podemos ranks, there is still disagreement about joining governmental forces with PSOE. The far-left anti-capitalist faction has opposed the development in Castile-La Mancha. Laura Camargo, who is the likely successor to Jarabo, is part of this faction; Jarabo is not and nor is Pablo Iglesias. Jarabo says that the possibility of Podemos entering the government is not one that he has conjured up; it is the national organisation which has raised the possibility and that the Podemos citizens' council in the Balearics would have the final say. Perhaps so, but if Camargo does become general secretary, the possibility - one would assume - would disappear. No firm decision will be made until the election of Jarabo's successor. Jarabo doesn't really want Camargo to follow him.
In an interview at the weekend, Francina Armengol made clear that she has no interest in there being a remodelling of the government to facilitate Podemos. In 2015, Podemos decided not enter the government because they didn't trust PSOE. Armengol believes that there is greater trust now, but she remains committed to how things are. The problem would arise, however, if the budget for 2018 couldn't be approved. Armengol insists that the situation is different in the Balearics. Budgets and important laws have been approved and passed. They may well have been, but this doesn't mean to say that they will be in the future. She also faces the ongoing matter of the Més contracts, and the possibility of Biel Barceló being cited by a judge. Camargo has said that Barceló's continuation as vice-president and tourism minister is reason alone for not entering the government. Were he forced to resign, though, this particular situation would change.
For Podemos, the ambition is to govern. The dash to power in 2015, although impressive, was not as strong as Podemos might have hoped. They didn't achieve a "Macron" and as time goes on, it becomes increasingly difficult to believe that they ever will. As it is, they may well have plateaued; forced, just like PSOE, to join alliances. Neither of the two principal issues which brought them to the fore - fighting corruption and austerity - has gone away. But they haven't managed the real breakthrough they might have wished. Ciudadanos, with the same issues but from a different political perspective, appear to be going backwards. The same might happen to Podemos. Without genuine, direct involvement in government, the electorate might just tire of them and of their influence of policies without responsibilities for them.
If Podemos seriously want to be part of the Balearic government, it might be now or never.
Monday, July 17, 2017
Snow White And The Seven PSOE Dwarfs
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most morally superior of them all?" The mirror answered, as mirrors do: "you are, oh Queen of Podemos". With this, Her Royal Bootness, Laura Camargo, cackled as she returned to her plans, plotting governmental domination of Snow White, the sweet and friendly Francina. Meanwhile, the Queen's not entirely faithful Humbert, Alberto Jarabo, was seeking to make amends for not having metaphorically killed Snow White. Podemos will be inside the government come October, he announced to the dwarfs of PSOE. And the tourist tax will be doubled, he shouted. The dwarfs nodded in humble obedience. He stopped short, for now, in cancelling Christmas, though this could be a demand for passing next year's budget, as is the 100% increase to the tourist tax and the elimination of the 50% discount that currently exists for April (and possibly also March).
Snow White and the PSOE dwarfs were preparing to go to their tiny cottage for the party's congress. Snow White told the dwarfs to be less subservient to the Queen. Podemos claim moral superiority, yet this is an expression of populism, she opined. The Queen and Humbert, to say nothing of the Lords of Podemos in Madrid, can engage in "bad practice" and brush it off as forgivable because they believe they are morally superior. PSOE will not bow to such populism, she made clear. PSOE will fight corruption transparently and PSOE will demonstrate that the party will do what it says it will do. The dwarfs all cheered, albeit they weren't entirely sure what she was talking about. There again, very few people are.
At the cottage, the idea will be to plan their own dominance, but the dwarfs were shuffling nervously, looking at their tiny shoes. "Who'll be sleeping in our beds," they asked, mangling their fairy tales. "We'll still have to get into bed with the Queen," one horrified dwarf maintained. "Err. Yucky," the other dwarfs chimed. Snow White replied: "Never fear, for I will one day consult the mirror in strict accordance with the principles of consensus and dialogue. I shall be the most morally superior of them all."
With this, the dwarfs uttered a collective hoorah, still not totally convinced that they had a clue what she was going on about. But it sounded good, and there was more heartening news for them. Snow White explained that a handsome prince is travelling through the lands. His name is Pedro. He will fall in love with Snow White's plans for progressive politics of the left, predicated on pacts and a system of federalism. The dwarfs were now becoming ecstatic, but one noted that this will still mean having to give bed room to the Queen. "Don't we want to govern on our own?" At this, Snow White's sweet and friendly face turned sour. For as and when she looks in the mirror, she knew that she will only see the image of the Queen staring back at her.
Snow White and the PSOE dwarfs were preparing to go to their tiny cottage for the party's congress. Snow White told the dwarfs to be less subservient to the Queen. Podemos claim moral superiority, yet this is an expression of populism, she opined. The Queen and Humbert, to say nothing of the Lords of Podemos in Madrid, can engage in "bad practice" and brush it off as forgivable because they believe they are morally superior. PSOE will not bow to such populism, she made clear. PSOE will fight corruption transparently and PSOE will demonstrate that the party will do what it says it will do. The dwarfs all cheered, albeit they weren't entirely sure what she was talking about. There again, very few people are.
At the cottage, the idea will be to plan their own dominance, but the dwarfs were shuffling nervously, looking at their tiny shoes. "Who'll be sleeping in our beds," they asked, mangling their fairy tales. "We'll still have to get into bed with the Queen," one horrified dwarf maintained. "Err. Yucky," the other dwarfs chimed. Snow White replied: "Never fear, for I will one day consult the mirror in strict accordance with the principles of consensus and dialogue. I shall be the most morally superior of them all."
With this, the dwarfs uttered a collective hoorah, still not totally convinced that they had a clue what she was going on about. But it sounded good, and there was more heartening news for them. Snow White explained that a handsome prince is travelling through the lands. His name is Pedro. He will fall in love with Snow White's plans for progressive politics of the left, predicated on pacts and a system of federalism. The dwarfs were now becoming ecstatic, but one noted that this will still mean having to give bed room to the Queen. "Don't we want to govern on our own?" At this, Snow White's sweet and friendly face turned sour. For as and when she looks in the mirror, she knew that she will only see the image of the Queen staring back at her.
Thursday, July 13, 2017
The Podemos Influence On Tourism Policy
Podemos have been threatening to scupper the government's holiday rentals' legislation. They have engaged in brinkmanship grandstanding in the past, as with the tourist tax law, and so have earned the criticism of the Partido Popular for "crying wolf" because they don't see their threats through. Things are unlikely to be any different this time.
The reasons for this latest bout of messing with the PSOE (PSIB) and Més government are twofold. Podemos insist that the government doesn't appreciate the scale of the problems with finding residential accommodation and that the legislation doesn't do anything to bring down the cost of renting or indeed purchasing. Nor does the law guarantee a right to housing. The second reason is that Podemos are demanding that the law includes a declaration of a housing emergency in Palma and Ibiza. This would entail the total prohibition of holiday rentals.
From a legislative point of view, Podemos are blurring two strands - one has to do with holiday rentals, the other with housing. There are two separate pieces of legislation going before the Balearic parliament. In essence, what Podemos would like is a unified bill, but this won't happen, much though - and Podemos would be right in this regard - the two strands are clearly linked. The government, meantime, justifiably argues that there would be encroachment into powers of town halls and island councils. Were there to be, then the legislation could end up becoming mired in the courts. It might do anyway, but for other reasons.
In fact, both Palma town hall and the Council of Ibiza have indicated they will use provisions in the new bill to severely restrict rentals. A specific declaration regarding emergency housing wouldn't therefore be necessary.
Previous experience suggests that when push comes to shove and votes are finally cast, Podemos will allow the legislation to go through. Although Podemos have been engaged in their usual last-minute attempts at horse-trading, the bill will surely be approved. Different alterations to the legislation should enable this. One is to increase the fine on websites like Airbnb for publicising unlicensed properties to 400,000 euros. Another is to give owners the chance of offsetting fines of up to 40,000 euros by providing so-called social rental.
The approval on Tuesday, assuming it does indeed go through, will be three days before PSOE (PSIB) convene for their congress. As mentioned in a previous article, this congress will be crucial for the party in mapping out its strategy leading up to the 2019 election. Central to this strategy will be issues related to tourism.
For Francina Armengol to secure a second term as president, a new "pact" will have to be arrived at. This is a cold fact for PSOE, as it is never in a position to get close to a majority: the Partido Popular is far too strong for this to ever happen. The congress will therefore have to take into account what the relationship with other parties might look like, with the Podemos relationship key to Armengol's ability to continue as president.
The PP could return with a majority, as it has in the past, but this is by no means certain. For all the at-times chaotic appearance of the current government, it has nevertheless presided over a period of improved economic conditions. The PP will attack it on jobs and on pay, but the electorate are unlikely to be convinced that the PP would do any better. In this respect, Armengol will be hoping that next year's wage negotiations and settlement for the hotel and hospitality sector bring about improved terms. Just as important, as mentioned before, will be any agreement on a special economic regime for the Balearics. A good one, and the PP will find it that much tougher to win.
The nature of the current pact or of a future one will, nevertheless, be an ingredient for the electorate to consider. When it comes to tourism policy, the tourist tax won't -as it stands - be a factor. In 2003, when the PP came back to power, it was an issue, as the electorate were concerned by an impact on tourism. Circumstances are quite different now. A Podemos demand for a doubling in the rate of the tax - a stipulation made for the party approving next year's budget - might be something for the public to baulk at. Or it might not be, given the "saturation" narrative.
Podemos do have the power to influence policy, and this can be seen in what the congress will consider in respect of limits on the number of tourists. PSOE, it is understood, is to change its tune. The congress will consider a limit on summer tourism numbers. A "battery" of proposals are to be presented in order to achieve a limit. The tourist tax is likely to be one of them. A doubling, and Podemos will take the credit.
The reasons for this latest bout of messing with the PSOE (PSIB) and Més government are twofold. Podemos insist that the government doesn't appreciate the scale of the problems with finding residential accommodation and that the legislation doesn't do anything to bring down the cost of renting or indeed purchasing. Nor does the law guarantee a right to housing. The second reason is that Podemos are demanding that the law includes a declaration of a housing emergency in Palma and Ibiza. This would entail the total prohibition of holiday rentals.
From a legislative point of view, Podemos are blurring two strands - one has to do with holiday rentals, the other with housing. There are two separate pieces of legislation going before the Balearic parliament. In essence, what Podemos would like is a unified bill, but this won't happen, much though - and Podemos would be right in this regard - the two strands are clearly linked. The government, meantime, justifiably argues that there would be encroachment into powers of town halls and island councils. Were there to be, then the legislation could end up becoming mired in the courts. It might do anyway, but for other reasons.
In fact, both Palma town hall and the Council of Ibiza have indicated they will use provisions in the new bill to severely restrict rentals. A specific declaration regarding emergency housing wouldn't therefore be necessary.
Previous experience suggests that when push comes to shove and votes are finally cast, Podemos will allow the legislation to go through. Although Podemos have been engaged in their usual last-minute attempts at horse-trading, the bill will surely be approved. Different alterations to the legislation should enable this. One is to increase the fine on websites like Airbnb for publicising unlicensed properties to 400,000 euros. Another is to give owners the chance of offsetting fines of up to 40,000 euros by providing so-called social rental.
The approval on Tuesday, assuming it does indeed go through, will be three days before PSOE (PSIB) convene for their congress. As mentioned in a previous article, this congress will be crucial for the party in mapping out its strategy leading up to the 2019 election. Central to this strategy will be issues related to tourism.
For Francina Armengol to secure a second term as president, a new "pact" will have to be arrived at. This is a cold fact for PSOE, as it is never in a position to get close to a majority: the Partido Popular is far too strong for this to ever happen. The congress will therefore have to take into account what the relationship with other parties might look like, with the Podemos relationship key to Armengol's ability to continue as president.
The PP could return with a majority, as it has in the past, but this is by no means certain. For all the at-times chaotic appearance of the current government, it has nevertheless presided over a period of improved economic conditions. The PP will attack it on jobs and on pay, but the electorate are unlikely to be convinced that the PP would do any better. In this respect, Armengol will be hoping that next year's wage negotiations and settlement for the hotel and hospitality sector bring about improved terms. Just as important, as mentioned before, will be any agreement on a special economic regime for the Balearics. A good one, and the PP will find it that much tougher to win.
The nature of the current pact or of a future one will, nevertheless, be an ingredient for the electorate to consider. When it comes to tourism policy, the tourist tax won't -as it stands - be a factor. In 2003, when the PP came back to power, it was an issue, as the electorate were concerned by an impact on tourism. Circumstances are quite different now. A Podemos demand for a doubling in the rate of the tax - a stipulation made for the party approving next year's budget - might be something for the public to baulk at. Or it might not be, given the "saturation" narrative.
Podemos do have the power to influence policy, and this can be seen in what the congress will consider in respect of limits on the number of tourists. PSOE, it is understood, is to change its tune. The congress will consider a limit on summer tourism numbers. A "battery" of proposals are to be presented in order to achieve a limit. The tourist tax is likely to be one of them. A doubling, and Podemos will take the credit.
Sunday, June 18, 2017
The Moment Pablo Became President
They were at it again in Congress last week. The coconut heads were popping up from their shies on the voting merry-go-round. Ready to be shot at, aim was taken at one of them. The head belonged to Jorge Moragas. Bang!
Jorge is Super Mariano's chief of staff, his right-hand (it couldn't be left) man. In Jorge, Mariano trusts. Unfortunately, Jorge had a yes-no brain fade moment. And let's be fair, it's not difficult. Fifty-fifty, anyone could make the same mistake. Jorge made that mistake. Invited, as with the other coconut heads, to state "sí" or "no" in response to the motion of no confidence in his boss, Jorge chose "sí". He opted for the wrong half of the 50:50 equation.
Seemingly unaware of his cock-up, Jorge had to be arm-wrestled by Celia Villalobos. You'll remember her; she was the one who had words to say about Podemos's Natty Dreadlock In A Babylon, rasta-ised Alberto Rodríguez. With Celia wrenching his arm from its socket, Jorge screamed "no". Then shouted it several more times, as the tellers hurriedly revised their voting entry and the whole of Congress collapsed in a fit of collective mirth.
At the moment that Jorge uttered his gaffe, it appeared as if Pablo Iglesias was on his way to the presidency (known also as being prime minister). The Podemos vote of no confidence in Super had claimed its victim. Jorge said "no" to Rajoy, albeit he had said yes, when he shouldn't have.
Brushing it all off, a red-faced Jorge later explained (joked) that he had been "building bridges". Is that what they do in Congress, hidden behind the coconut-shy terracing? A Lego kit or some such to pass away the endless hours of having to listen to Iglesias? Here's a bridge I've made. Which, given that it is a Partido Popular bridge, would be one constructed with the aid of a dubious contract and a vastly inflated value.
This, corruption, was essentially why Pablo and Podemos had lodged their no confidence vote. "Spain is a great country. But without you, it would be even greater," opined the patriot Pablo. Super Mariano's riposte: "The PP is not a corrupt party, that's why voters renewed their confidence in us." Actually, that probably wasn't the reason for the highly muted confidence that the citizens had shown in Super and his party. Meanwhile, Mariano suggested, in not so many words, that Podemos had been having a laugh by bringing the no-confidence vote. It failed, as everyone knew it would, despite Jorge's attempt to make it work and indeed give everyone a good laugh. PSOE abstained.
The debate was otherwise noteworthy for its usual Hernando moment. The PP's Congress spokesman, the one-man demolition squad who is Rafael Hernando, having stated that more work was needed and less circus of a Podemos populist variety, then decided to allude to Pablo's romance with fellow Podemos-ite, Irene Montero. Now, usually when there's a Hernando-Podemos moment, the latter walk out. On this occasion they stayed put and confined themselves to booing Rafael in the style of rival football supporters.
Prior to all the fun and games in Congress, Podemos's man-on-the-way-out in the Balearics, Alberto Jarabo, was reminding everyone that he is, for the time being, still in charge. He did this by launching an attack on Rajoy and the PP, who were accused of having an obsession with the Balearics and displaying "persecutory mania" and "Balearicphobia". So, we had a new phobia to add to the list, which includes "tourismphobia", something that Alberto knows all about, except when it comes to subletting a holiday rental in Son Serra de Marina.
Anyway, Alberto was making it perfectly clear that Podemos in the Balearics were squarely behing the Iglesias no-confidence vote, which no doubt didn't cause Rajoy a sleepless night.
Overlooked in the middle of the debate and the vote was the fact that on Thursday there was a fortieth anniversary. On 15 June 1977, Spain held its first general election of the post-Franco, newly democratic era. At that time, Javier Rupérez, chief of staff for foreign affairs, declared that there was immense joy in the streets for having recovered democracy and that Spaniards had "found themselves".
Indeed they had. And they were to find that Spanish democracy came with something of a caveat. The Podemos no-confidence vote because of corruption wasn't a case of having a laugh. After nearly forty years of dictatorship, democracy was restored. Forty years later, they're talking corruption. Over and over.
Jorge is Super Mariano's chief of staff, his right-hand (it couldn't be left) man. In Jorge, Mariano trusts. Unfortunately, Jorge had a yes-no brain fade moment. And let's be fair, it's not difficult. Fifty-fifty, anyone could make the same mistake. Jorge made that mistake. Invited, as with the other coconut heads, to state "sí" or "no" in response to the motion of no confidence in his boss, Jorge chose "sí". He opted for the wrong half of the 50:50 equation.
Seemingly unaware of his cock-up, Jorge had to be arm-wrestled by Celia Villalobos. You'll remember her; she was the one who had words to say about Podemos's Natty Dreadlock In A Babylon, rasta-ised Alberto Rodríguez. With Celia wrenching his arm from its socket, Jorge screamed "no". Then shouted it several more times, as the tellers hurriedly revised their voting entry and the whole of Congress collapsed in a fit of collective mirth.
At the moment that Jorge uttered his gaffe, it appeared as if Pablo Iglesias was on his way to the presidency (known also as being prime minister). The Podemos vote of no confidence in Super had claimed its victim. Jorge said "no" to Rajoy, albeit he had said yes, when he shouldn't have.
Brushing it all off, a red-faced Jorge later explained (joked) that he had been "building bridges". Is that what they do in Congress, hidden behind the coconut-shy terracing? A Lego kit or some such to pass away the endless hours of having to listen to Iglesias? Here's a bridge I've made. Which, given that it is a Partido Popular bridge, would be one constructed with the aid of a dubious contract and a vastly inflated value.
This, corruption, was essentially why Pablo and Podemos had lodged their no confidence vote. "Spain is a great country. But without you, it would be even greater," opined the patriot Pablo. Super Mariano's riposte: "The PP is not a corrupt party, that's why voters renewed their confidence in us." Actually, that probably wasn't the reason for the highly muted confidence that the citizens had shown in Super and his party. Meanwhile, Mariano suggested, in not so many words, that Podemos had been having a laugh by bringing the no-confidence vote. It failed, as everyone knew it would, despite Jorge's attempt to make it work and indeed give everyone a good laugh. PSOE abstained.
The debate was otherwise noteworthy for its usual Hernando moment. The PP's Congress spokesman, the one-man demolition squad who is Rafael Hernando, having stated that more work was needed and less circus of a Podemos populist variety, then decided to allude to Pablo's romance with fellow Podemos-ite, Irene Montero. Now, usually when there's a Hernando-Podemos moment, the latter walk out. On this occasion they stayed put and confined themselves to booing Rafael in the style of rival football supporters.
Prior to all the fun and games in Congress, Podemos's man-on-the-way-out in the Balearics, Alberto Jarabo, was reminding everyone that he is, for the time being, still in charge. He did this by launching an attack on Rajoy and the PP, who were accused of having an obsession with the Balearics and displaying "persecutory mania" and "Balearicphobia". So, we had a new phobia to add to the list, which includes "tourismphobia", something that Alberto knows all about, except when it comes to subletting a holiday rental in Son Serra de Marina.
Anyway, Alberto was making it perfectly clear that Podemos in the Balearics were squarely behing the Iglesias no-confidence vote, which no doubt didn't cause Rajoy a sleepless night.
Overlooked in the middle of the debate and the vote was the fact that on Thursday there was a fortieth anniversary. On 15 June 1977, Spain held its first general election of the post-Franco, newly democratic era. At that time, Javier Rupérez, chief of staff for foreign affairs, declared that there was immense joy in the streets for having recovered democracy and that Spaniards had "found themselves".
Indeed they had. And they were to find that Spanish democracy came with something of a caveat. The Podemos no-confidence vote because of corruption wasn't a case of having a laugh. After nearly forty years of dictatorship, democracy was restored. Forty years later, they're talking corruption. Over and over.
Monday, June 12, 2017
Amancio, Alberto and Lucas: Zara and Podemos
Do you know who Amancio Ortega is? You don't. Well, you should. According to Forbes, he is the world's third richest person. He's worth the small matter of some 75 billion US dollars. And how has he come by this vast fortune? Shops, that's how. Do you know, for example, Zara? Ah yes, you do. That's one of Amancio's chains. Just one that makes up the Inditex empire.
Amancio is therefore a sort of European Bill Gates, who has a few bob more than Amancio - 89.1 billion. When you have that amount stashed beneath the bed, you can afford to be generous. Which Bill is. So is Amancio. Via his foundation, he's handed over five million euros to the Balearic public health system to assist with funding for cancer treatment and research.
Such a gesture, you might think, would receive unanimous support. But if you think this, you haven't taken Podemos into account. Alberto Jarabo didn't say that he was against the donation, but he did describe it as "alms" from a millionaire, that it was of "dubious origin" and that it was linked to cases of "labour exploitation and unfair competition". It is necessary, Alberto suggested to the rest of parliament, to question where these funds come from.
Francina accused Alberto of "demagoguery", which is a fairly standard riposte to almost anything that Alberto comes out with. Everyone else thought he was a bit of a twerp.
Meanwhile, over at the Council of Mallorca, Podemos were in the process of re-enacting the banishments of Xe-Lo and Montse that they had successfully achieved in parliament. Lucas Gálvez is another Podemos sort that no one would otherwise ever have heard of, rather like Montse for instance, were it not for them falling foul of the Podemos apparatus. Actually, it seems that few in Podemos have heard of him either. Or set eyes on him at least.
Iván Sevillano, yet another obscure name from the Podemos ranks, is the party's deputy spokesperson at the Council. He maintains that Lucas has committed some form of fraud against the citizens by not giving up his seat in the Council. This is because Lucas, who apparently has some 25 party disciplinary sanctions hanging over him, has seemingly not been turning up to meetings.
By way of punishment, they stopped paying all his salary and ultimately left him living off his allowances alone. Lucas has been scandalised. They say he's not going to meetings, but what's he supposed to do when he's left with only some 900 euros a months for which he is meant to work eight hours a day and travel back and forth from Felanitx. Well, as far as the travel is concerned, he might like to ask Balti (who also lives in Felanitx) if he can have a lift. There must be room in the parliament president's Kangoo, and the Council is hardly that far from the parliament building.
More to the point, though, is the fact, so Lucas claims, that he was the one who drafted the so-called Manifesto of Sineu. This was the sort of revolutionary movement against Alberto, whose leadership was openly being criticised. Iván says it's got nothing to do with the manifesto. It's all to do with a "lack of involvement" by Lucas over the two years since he was elected.
Amancio is therefore a sort of European Bill Gates, who has a few bob more than Amancio - 89.1 billion. When you have that amount stashed beneath the bed, you can afford to be generous. Which Bill is. So is Amancio. Via his foundation, he's handed over five million euros to the Balearic public health system to assist with funding for cancer treatment and research.
Such a gesture, you might think, would receive unanimous support. But if you think this, you haven't taken Podemos into account. Alberto Jarabo didn't say that he was against the donation, but he did describe it as "alms" from a millionaire, that it was of "dubious origin" and that it was linked to cases of "labour exploitation and unfair competition". It is necessary, Alberto suggested to the rest of parliament, to question where these funds come from.
Francina accused Alberto of "demagoguery", which is a fairly standard riposte to almost anything that Alberto comes out with. Everyone else thought he was a bit of a twerp.
Meanwhile, over at the Council of Mallorca, Podemos were in the process of re-enacting the banishments of Xe-Lo and Montse that they had successfully achieved in parliament. Lucas Gálvez is another Podemos sort that no one would otherwise ever have heard of, rather like Montse for instance, were it not for them falling foul of the Podemos apparatus. Actually, it seems that few in Podemos have heard of him either. Or set eyes on him at least.
Iván Sevillano, yet another obscure name from the Podemos ranks, is the party's deputy spokesperson at the Council. He maintains that Lucas has committed some form of fraud against the citizens by not giving up his seat in the Council. This is because Lucas, who apparently has some 25 party disciplinary sanctions hanging over him, has seemingly not been turning up to meetings.
By way of punishment, they stopped paying all his salary and ultimately left him living off his allowances alone. Lucas has been scandalised. They say he's not going to meetings, but what's he supposed to do when he's left with only some 900 euros a months for which he is meant to work eight hours a day and travel back and forth from Felanitx. Well, as far as the travel is concerned, he might like to ask Balti (who also lives in Felanitx) if he can have a lift. There must be room in the parliament president's Kangoo, and the Council is hardly that far from the parliament building.
More to the point, though, is the fact, so Lucas claims, that he was the one who drafted the so-called Manifesto of Sineu. This was the sort of revolutionary movement against Alberto, whose leadership was openly being criticised. Iván says it's got nothing to do with the manifesto. It's all to do with a "lack of involvement" by Lucas over the two years since he was elected.
Sunday, June 04, 2017
Montse On A Sofa
Bear with me a moment, I have a story from university days. It concerns a friend who spent a good part of an entire academic year living in an office. This was the college junior common room's office (JCR, for those of you unfamiliar with such things, being the student organisation). The office was nicknamed the Witch office, after the college student magazine that ultimately folded under the weight of potential libel and obscenity charges.
When one says that this friend lived in the office, he only slept there. Facilities, such as showers, kitchen, what have you, were readily available in friends' halls of residence corridors; mine, normally. There was rarely any issue with his using the office. Security, such as it was, fell to the college porters, who would not make a habit of entering the office. Until Old Frank did. He was a dear chap with a Blackburn accent, of whom the student body was very fond, unlike another of the porters - Young Frank (though young was relative). Old Frank once stumbled into the office and very swiftly stumbled out again. He was later to be found wandering along corridors, muttering to anyone who came in earshot: " 'Ave you 'eard abaht shaggin' in t'Witch office?" By which time, we most certainly had.
The reason for the friend utilising the office was pretty simple. Money. Despite being on a full grant (there were such things then), there were greater priorities to living than paying for books or, more importantly, rent.
This anecdote serves as an introduction to what has been occurring in the Balearic parliament. The Old Franks of parliament security were alerted recently to noises on the third floor of the building. This was in the early hours of the morning. They considered calling the police but decided to investigate for themselves. The room on the third floor is the one available as a rest area for parliamentary deputies. It has, among other things, showers, a telly and sofas. The Old Franks entered and who should they find but Montse Seijas. One should point out that noises were not of the Witch office nature. Montse was there on her own, bedded down on a sofa. But naturally enough the Old Franks sought out Balti the next day. " 'Ave you 'eard abaht Montse in t' office?"
The president of parliament, the equivalent of a college bursar, thus informed the Old Franks that after eleven at night there can be no one in the parliament's offices. And there most certainly cannot be anyone sleeping in them. Called to explain herself, Montse said that she often worked late and had availed herself of parliament accommodation on four or five occasions.
Now, the thing with Montse is that is she's from Minorca (actually, she's from Galicia, but that's another matter). She was a Podemos deputy for Minorca before Podemos threw her out of the party. The Minorca connection entitles her to a 90 euros a night allowance. Given this, some people put two and two together. Or thought they did. Montse has flatly denied trousering the 90 euros and sleeping in parliament for free. She couldn't, she said, keep on imposing herself on friends, she doesn't have a car and she had been unable to find a hotel. "It's very difficult to find one in the centre of Palma," she complained.
And let's be honest, she has a point. A report last week suggesting that one can hand over up to 500 euros a night for a Palma hotel room makes the 90 euros allowance seem distinctly miserly. What could one get for 90 euros anyway? It occurs to me that she might have booked something through Airbnb, but as a good Podemos deputy, or rather ex-Podemos, that would never do (unless you're Alberto Jarabo).
Balti's command was followed to the letter. The Old Franks came across Montse on another occasion. It was half eleven. You'll have to leave, they told her. Where did she go? She hasn't said. But it could be that she was forced to blow the equivalent of several nights' allowance on one night in a Palma boutique hotel. Wherever it was she went, she has had harsh words for her one-time comrade in Podemos, Balti. His decision to ensure that she is removed from the premises by eleven o'clock is all down to an obsession that Balti and Podemos have with her.
Oh well, it was good while it lasted, one supposes. And at least Montse had a sofa. The friend at university made do with the floor.
When one says that this friend lived in the office, he only slept there. Facilities, such as showers, kitchen, what have you, were readily available in friends' halls of residence corridors; mine, normally. There was rarely any issue with his using the office. Security, such as it was, fell to the college porters, who would not make a habit of entering the office. Until Old Frank did. He was a dear chap with a Blackburn accent, of whom the student body was very fond, unlike another of the porters - Young Frank (though young was relative). Old Frank once stumbled into the office and very swiftly stumbled out again. He was later to be found wandering along corridors, muttering to anyone who came in earshot: " 'Ave you 'eard abaht shaggin' in t'Witch office?" By which time, we most certainly had.
The reason for the friend utilising the office was pretty simple. Money. Despite being on a full grant (there were such things then), there were greater priorities to living than paying for books or, more importantly, rent.
This anecdote serves as an introduction to what has been occurring in the Balearic parliament. The Old Franks of parliament security were alerted recently to noises on the third floor of the building. This was in the early hours of the morning. They considered calling the police but decided to investigate for themselves. The room on the third floor is the one available as a rest area for parliamentary deputies. It has, among other things, showers, a telly and sofas. The Old Franks entered and who should they find but Montse Seijas. One should point out that noises were not of the Witch office nature. Montse was there on her own, bedded down on a sofa. But naturally enough the Old Franks sought out Balti the next day. " 'Ave you 'eard abaht Montse in t' office?"
The president of parliament, the equivalent of a college bursar, thus informed the Old Franks that after eleven at night there can be no one in the parliament's offices. And there most certainly cannot be anyone sleeping in them. Called to explain herself, Montse said that she often worked late and had availed herself of parliament accommodation on four or five occasions.
Now, the thing with Montse is that is she's from Minorca (actually, she's from Galicia, but that's another matter). She was a Podemos deputy for Minorca before Podemos threw her out of the party. The Minorca connection entitles her to a 90 euros a night allowance. Given this, some people put two and two together. Or thought they did. Montse has flatly denied trousering the 90 euros and sleeping in parliament for free. She couldn't, she said, keep on imposing herself on friends, she doesn't have a car and she had been unable to find a hotel. "It's very difficult to find one in the centre of Palma," she complained.
And let's be honest, she has a point. A report last week suggesting that one can hand over up to 500 euros a night for a Palma hotel room makes the 90 euros allowance seem distinctly miserly. What could one get for 90 euros anyway? It occurs to me that she might have booked something through Airbnb, but as a good Podemos deputy, or rather ex-Podemos, that would never do (unless you're Alberto Jarabo).
Balti's command was followed to the letter. The Old Franks came across Montse on another occasion. It was half eleven. You'll have to leave, they told her. Where did she go? She hasn't said. But it could be that she was forced to blow the equivalent of several nights' allowance on one night in a Palma boutique hotel. Wherever it was she went, she has had harsh words for her one-time comrade in Podemos, Balti. His decision to ensure that she is removed from the premises by eleven o'clock is all down to an obsession that Balti and Podemos have with her.
Oh well, it was good while it lasted, one supposes. And at least Montse had a sofa. The friend at university made do with the floor.
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Who Holds The Conch?
In Lord of the Flies, what order there was resided with the holder of the conch. Ralph struggled to maintain order, and it was ultimately wrenched away, along with the conch, by Jack. But the conch was only so powerful. Piggy's specs represented the real power. They were needed for making fire. Jack really was an utter bastard.
What order there is in Podemos in the Balearics at present is being wrested away. Alberto Jarabo is to lose his hold on the conch. The faction within the party which isn't behind The Boot Girl, Laura Camargo, wants anyone but Laura in charge. It has come up with someone who might fit the bill: Mae de la Concha. And who is she? A Podemos deputy in Congress. The non-Laura wing would rather like Concha to have the conch and lead them into what they hope will be a glorious victory at the 2019 election. Moreover, it would seem as though they are conspiring to try and get Laura farmed out to Palma town hall. Lucky old Palma, and you think two years to come of Noggin as mayor couldn't be any worse.
But as with Lord of the Flies, it's the specs which have it. And Laura has the specs. Feminist, anti-capitalist Jack that she is, the war paint would be donned, the hunters would roam the land and fire would be made. This, at any rate, is the fear of the non-Laura lot. Were she imposed on Palma, things would be tricky enough, such as her imposing a five-kilometre exclusion zone for all cruise ships. But as holder of the conch as well as the glasses and presidency of the Balearics, to boot, The Boot Girl would commence the process of re-order. Magalluf would be nationalised and become part of the Gulag. Hoteliers would be sent there for their re-education, closely followed by dissenters within the Podemos ranks. The conch wouldn't count for anything for La Concha, as she wouldn't have it.
Of course, and you can rest easy, none of this will happen. Yes, Laura might get to hold the Podemos conch, but the lovely and reassuring Partido Popular are coming to everyone's rescue. So certain are they of victory in 2019 that they have already started drafting legislation. Or repealing legislation. Some which hasn't actually been passed yet, namely the holiday rentals' bill.
The PP will thus contribute to the constant state of disorder. A fire will be lit under Biel Barceló's rentals' law (and possibly Biel as well), with the tourist tax to add extra fuel. Or will it? Who wears the specs in the PP? Biel Company? Marga Prohens? Not as such. Come here, Laura, we need your glasses.
What order there is in Podemos in the Balearics at present is being wrested away. Alberto Jarabo is to lose his hold on the conch. The faction within the party which isn't behind The Boot Girl, Laura Camargo, wants anyone but Laura in charge. It has come up with someone who might fit the bill: Mae de la Concha. And who is she? A Podemos deputy in Congress. The non-Laura wing would rather like Concha to have the conch and lead them into what they hope will be a glorious victory at the 2019 election. Moreover, it would seem as though they are conspiring to try and get Laura farmed out to Palma town hall. Lucky old Palma, and you think two years to come of Noggin as mayor couldn't be any worse.
But as with Lord of the Flies, it's the specs which have it. And Laura has the specs. Feminist, anti-capitalist Jack that she is, the war paint would be donned, the hunters would roam the land and fire would be made. This, at any rate, is the fear of the non-Laura lot. Were she imposed on Palma, things would be tricky enough, such as her imposing a five-kilometre exclusion zone for all cruise ships. But as holder of the conch as well as the glasses and presidency of the Balearics, to boot, The Boot Girl would commence the process of re-order. Magalluf would be nationalised and become part of the Gulag. Hoteliers would be sent there for their re-education, closely followed by dissenters within the Podemos ranks. The conch wouldn't count for anything for La Concha, as she wouldn't have it.
Of course, and you can rest easy, none of this will happen. Yes, Laura might get to hold the Podemos conch, but the lovely and reassuring Partido Popular are coming to everyone's rescue. So certain are they of victory in 2019 that they have already started drafting legislation. Or repealing legislation. Some which hasn't actually been passed yet, namely the holiday rentals' bill.
The PP will thus contribute to the constant state of disorder. A fire will be lit under Biel Barceló's rentals' law (and possibly Biel as well), with the tourist tax to add extra fuel. Or will it? Who wears the specs in the PP? Biel Company? Marga Prohens? Not as such. Come here, Laura, we need your glasses.
Sunday, May 21, 2017
Xe-Lo And Montse Denounce Parliament
The office of the president (aka speaker) of the Balearic parliament is - decor-wise - much in keeping with the interior of houses inhabited by ancient Mallorcans. There is, therefore, an enormous amount of wood. Wood panelling, wood flooring, crafted wooden chairs, wooden coffee table and a very wooden desk. The principal concession to modernity is the three-piece with silken yellowish finishing that matches the curtains and what small areas of the walls aren't wood. The other concession is the occupant of the office, Balti.
Given his former life as some form of metalworker, one might have anticipated Balti having performed a metallic refit; even a Metallica one. Out with wood, in with aluminium. Or, in a more traditional (Mallorcan) style, in with some bits of old wrought iron that had been rusting in a shed in Binissalem and which can now be restored by artisan apprentices on youth guarantee schemes, paid for by the vast surplus that parliament turns in, and held up as examples of economic diversification and as a means of tackling tourism seasonality. (All types of alternative employment, you may have noticed, address seasonality.)
Not so long ago, the Balearic government was said to be eyeing up the cash that is sitting in parliament's bank accounts. In other words, the government wanted it. Assuming that the accounts haven't been raided or that finance minister Catalina Cladera hasn't been banging on the glass-pane wooden door to the office and handing in a demand for several million euros, President Balti will have a bit spare to kit out some other offices.
As there are some offices - one, in particular - which need a makeover, surely Balti could get in his new (secondhand) Kangoo and nip down to Ikea for some furniture. He must also, you would think, know the odd artisan office renovation chappy who could be hired, albeit that the process for doing so - in order to prevent any accusations of favouring a mate - would entail a public tender (put out for thirty days of public consultation) and verification by the numerous Podemos citizen councils.
So, getting things done, as in getting new offices sorted out, probably does take some time. Might this, therefore, be the explanation for the discontent being shown by two members of parliament - two former members of Podemos members of parliament?
Xe-Lo, who not so long ago could rattle around the vast presidential suite, and her chum Montse are clearly getting ever more brassed off with their ostracisation. The two fully paid-up members of the Not-Podemos-But-Would-Still-Like-To-Be Party have taken considerable umbrage at the state of their office, if only they had one.
There is apparently a room available, but parliament technicians have told Xe-Lo and Montse that it is barely big enough to swing a cat (not that anyone from Podemos either present or past would do such a thing) let alone accommodate the substantial forms of both themselves (plus two lucky staff), a couple of tables, four chairs and a closet. These same technicians say that the room is not appropriate for working. This being the case and also that Xe-Lo and Montse are having to store vital documents in boxes, they've issued a denuncia against the parliament's board. Off it has gone to the employment ministry's work inspectorate, while they have also raised the matter with parliament's health and safety committee and the occupational hazard prevention officer.
This is clearly an outrage. Here we have a government which espouses dignified working conditions and yet two members of the house are presumably having to make do with sitting on a corridor floor. Obviously things have got so bad that they can't even just have a word in the shell-like of the employment minister, Iago Nicaragua (or whatever it is). He was himself, after all, once a work inspector.
Balti, meanwhile, appears not to have made any comment on this sorry state of affairs. In the spirit of being all-inclusive (in a citizens' style as opposed to a hotel), he must be able find space for Xe-Lo and Montse in his office. And with all that wood acting as soundproofing, no one would ever hear ... .
Given his former life as some form of metalworker, one might have anticipated Balti having performed a metallic refit; even a Metallica one. Out with wood, in with aluminium. Or, in a more traditional (Mallorcan) style, in with some bits of old wrought iron that had been rusting in a shed in Binissalem and which can now be restored by artisan apprentices on youth guarantee schemes, paid for by the vast surplus that parliament turns in, and held up as examples of economic diversification and as a means of tackling tourism seasonality. (All types of alternative employment, you may have noticed, address seasonality.)
Not so long ago, the Balearic government was said to be eyeing up the cash that is sitting in parliament's bank accounts. In other words, the government wanted it. Assuming that the accounts haven't been raided or that finance minister Catalina Cladera hasn't been banging on the glass-pane wooden door to the office and handing in a demand for several million euros, President Balti will have a bit spare to kit out some other offices.
As there are some offices - one, in particular - which need a makeover, surely Balti could get in his new (secondhand) Kangoo and nip down to Ikea for some furniture. He must also, you would think, know the odd artisan office renovation chappy who could be hired, albeit that the process for doing so - in order to prevent any accusations of favouring a mate - would entail a public tender (put out for thirty days of public consultation) and verification by the numerous Podemos citizen councils.
So, getting things done, as in getting new offices sorted out, probably does take some time. Might this, therefore, be the explanation for the discontent being shown by two members of parliament - two former members of Podemos members of parliament?
Xe-Lo, who not so long ago could rattle around the vast presidential suite, and her chum Montse are clearly getting ever more brassed off with their ostracisation. The two fully paid-up members of the Not-Podemos-But-Would-Still-Like-To-Be Party have taken considerable umbrage at the state of their office, if only they had one.
There is apparently a room available, but parliament technicians have told Xe-Lo and Montse that it is barely big enough to swing a cat (not that anyone from Podemos either present or past would do such a thing) let alone accommodate the substantial forms of both themselves (plus two lucky staff), a couple of tables, four chairs and a closet. These same technicians say that the room is not appropriate for working. This being the case and also that Xe-Lo and Montse are having to store vital documents in boxes, they've issued a denuncia against the parliament's board. Off it has gone to the employment ministry's work inspectorate, while they have also raised the matter with parliament's health and safety committee and the occupational hazard prevention officer.
This is clearly an outrage. Here we have a government which espouses dignified working conditions and yet two members of the house are presumably having to make do with sitting on a corridor floor. Obviously things have got so bad that they can't even just have a word in the shell-like of the employment minister, Iago Nicaragua (or whatever it is). He was himself, after all, once a work inspector.
Balti, meanwhile, appears not to have made any comment on this sorry state of affairs. In the spirit of being all-inclusive (in a citizens' style as opposed to a hotel), he must be able find space for Xe-Lo and Montse in his office. And with all that wood acting as soundproofing, no one would ever hear ... .
Thursday, May 18, 2017
Podemos: The Experiment That Went Wrong?
So, as predicted, Alberto Jarabo will cease to be the general secretary of Podemos in the Balearics. With all Podemos parliamentary deputies plus dozens of others lined up against him and in favour of Laura Camargo, his position had become untenable. He sought to cling to the life raft - rescue from the Madrid leadership and Pablo Iglesias - but that was never going to work. He was destined to sink.
For those of us who are not part of the Podemos apparatus, the party's divisions can seem distinctly arcane. The local difficulty in the Balearics mirrors the much greater one that was played out in March. From the outside, the triumph of Iglesias appeared as though it was the culmination of fighting over the remains of Karl Marx and Leon Trotsky, with no one entirely sure what the fight was. How many inside the party really understood either?
The divisions have been styled by some commentators as evidence of a party attaining maturity. After the euphoria of election triumphs that emerged from out of nowhere, the challenge was for Podemos to make sense of those triumphs. The essentially non-political party had to learn to behave like one. In the process, and as is the case with any other party, there were bound to be arguments as to policy and strategy. And if we need reminding of how other Spanish political parties are engrossed by such a dynamic, we need look no further than PSOE and the Lazarus-like rebirth of Pedro Sánchez in the face of the all too PP-compliant (supposedly) Susana Díaz.
There shouldn't, therefore, be any real surprise that Podemos find themselves attempting to reconcile factions. This is the very nature of political parties. But with Podemos there was also the sense that they were somehow different. An aversion to the established order of the political system and indeed to established practices had lulled many into the belief that here was a mould-breaker. They may have shattered the old mould - at least partially - but are now devoting energies in piecing it back together.
The struggles they are having reflect the very essence of the party and those who inhabit it and its support base. This is an amalgam of an egghead university professorial class, of hardline communists, of disgruntled PSOE (and even PP) supporters, of Republicans, of the previously politically frustrated, of the outright opportunist. There is a sense in which Podemos are a current-day manifestation of elements that contributed to and conspired to force the Second Republic into implosion. All the party lacks is a definable bourgeoisie, and Laura Camargo - a defender of the party's anti-capitalist faction - stands as a symbol against such self-interest.
Jarabo, now that he has decided to walk, is urging the party to find a unifying leader. Camargo, where he is concerned, isn't that figure. But who could he have in mind? Jarabo himself is indicative of a Podemos weakness, the inherent inexperience that the party brings to the table. Who, after all, was he when he became general secretary? Who had ever heard of him? The "new politics", the breaking of the mould, conjured up new faces but ones who were unaware of how to proceed.
Camargo has accused Jarabo of "improvisation". But what else could he have engaged in? Podemos are improvisational. They are, as Mariano Rajoy was at pains to point out, an "experiment". This is a party founded in the cloisters of academe, a laboratory exercise of competing compounds exploding in the test tube.
There may not have been a blank sheet of paper - quite the contrary given the hundreds of items that were to find their way on to the Podemos manifesto - but there was a blankness of procedure. Hard though they try to adhere to a new democratisation via citizens' councils, there is always the potential for a leadership to plough its own furrow. Essentially, this has been one of the criticisms of Jarabo. His proximity to PSOE and Més has supposedly been greater than his proximity to the "bases".
Might, therefore, Jarabo have been undone because of pragmatism? Podemos have refused to kowtow to the established order - witness, for instance, their non-support for Sánchez and his pact with the reviled (by Podemos) Ciudadanos - but in certain instances they have. The Council of Mallorca is an example. It may not be a complete bed of roses, but the combination of PSOE, Més and Podemos has worked with comparative harmony. If Camargo takes over, and perhaps this is Jarabo's fear, the semblance of pragmatism would evaporate.
Ultimately, there is a question of what they really are as a party. Yes, there is a certain maturity, and the electorate will now want a firmer indication. Podemos have passed from being new. They are still an experiment, a work in progress, but their divisions could bring progress to a grinding halt and eventual failure.
For those of us who are not part of the Podemos apparatus, the party's divisions can seem distinctly arcane. The local difficulty in the Balearics mirrors the much greater one that was played out in March. From the outside, the triumph of Iglesias appeared as though it was the culmination of fighting over the remains of Karl Marx and Leon Trotsky, with no one entirely sure what the fight was. How many inside the party really understood either?
The divisions have been styled by some commentators as evidence of a party attaining maturity. After the euphoria of election triumphs that emerged from out of nowhere, the challenge was for Podemos to make sense of those triumphs. The essentially non-political party had to learn to behave like one. In the process, and as is the case with any other party, there were bound to be arguments as to policy and strategy. And if we need reminding of how other Spanish political parties are engrossed by such a dynamic, we need look no further than PSOE and the Lazarus-like rebirth of Pedro Sánchez in the face of the all too PP-compliant (supposedly) Susana Díaz.
There shouldn't, therefore, be any real surprise that Podemos find themselves attempting to reconcile factions. This is the very nature of political parties. But with Podemos there was also the sense that they were somehow different. An aversion to the established order of the political system and indeed to established practices had lulled many into the belief that here was a mould-breaker. They may have shattered the old mould - at least partially - but are now devoting energies in piecing it back together.
The struggles they are having reflect the very essence of the party and those who inhabit it and its support base. This is an amalgam of an egghead university professorial class, of hardline communists, of disgruntled PSOE (and even PP) supporters, of Republicans, of the previously politically frustrated, of the outright opportunist. There is a sense in which Podemos are a current-day manifestation of elements that contributed to and conspired to force the Second Republic into implosion. All the party lacks is a definable bourgeoisie, and Laura Camargo - a defender of the party's anti-capitalist faction - stands as a symbol against such self-interest.
Jarabo, now that he has decided to walk, is urging the party to find a unifying leader. Camargo, where he is concerned, isn't that figure. But who could he have in mind? Jarabo himself is indicative of a Podemos weakness, the inherent inexperience that the party brings to the table. Who, after all, was he when he became general secretary? Who had ever heard of him? The "new politics", the breaking of the mould, conjured up new faces but ones who were unaware of how to proceed.
Camargo has accused Jarabo of "improvisation". But what else could he have engaged in? Podemos are improvisational. They are, as Mariano Rajoy was at pains to point out, an "experiment". This is a party founded in the cloisters of academe, a laboratory exercise of competing compounds exploding in the test tube.
There may not have been a blank sheet of paper - quite the contrary given the hundreds of items that were to find their way on to the Podemos manifesto - but there was a blankness of procedure. Hard though they try to adhere to a new democratisation via citizens' councils, there is always the potential for a leadership to plough its own furrow. Essentially, this has been one of the criticisms of Jarabo. His proximity to PSOE and Més has supposedly been greater than his proximity to the "bases".
Might, therefore, Jarabo have been undone because of pragmatism? Podemos have refused to kowtow to the established order - witness, for instance, their non-support for Sánchez and his pact with the reviled (by Podemos) Ciudadanos - but in certain instances they have. The Council of Mallorca is an example. It may not be a complete bed of roses, but the combination of PSOE, Més and Podemos has worked with comparative harmony. If Camargo takes over, and perhaps this is Jarabo's fear, the semblance of pragmatism would evaporate.
Ultimately, there is a question of what they really are as a party. Yes, there is a certain maturity, and the electorate will now want a firmer indication. Podemos have passed from being new. They are still an experiment, a work in progress, but their divisions could bring progress to a grinding halt and eventual failure.
Sunday, May 14, 2017
The Spice Girls Take Over Podemos
The sisterhood is rising up within Podemos. I'd like to be able to truly align them with The Spice Girls, but once one gets beyond Scary Spice (Palma's Aurora Jhardi), the comparisons do rather dry up. Not that there isn't Girl Power, just that, in all honesty, who could be Baby? Posh? Most definitely not. Likewise, the leader wouldn't qualify as Ginger. Laura Camargo, the Boot Girl (or Boot Spice, if you prefer), is someone David Lynch could have imagined for Twin Peaks: a Nadine Hurley with specs rather than a patch, possessed of superhuman strength and some disturbing secrets hidden beneath the patio.
Laura, it would seem, is about to strike a blow against the brotherhood. And there is no brother more eminent in the Balearics Podemos than Alberto Jarabo. The current general secretary, Alberto is about to feel the full force of the unleashed sisterhood combined with the support of brothers as well. Basically, he's on his way out, and Laura will ascend to the Podemos throne (metaphorically speaking, because there are no thrones in Podemos-land).
This in part is all the fault of His Royal (sic) Podemos-ness, Pablo Iglesias. He apparently took all good Balearic Podemosites by surprise when he said on telly that there would be primaries for the Balearic leadership next month. This had been planned for later in the year under the terms of whatever citizens' council had determined it thus (and there are any number of such councils inhabiting the Podemos sphere).
It was then thought that this wasn't such a surprise after all, as an early vote would leave the way open for Alberto to be re-elected. Laura wouldn't have time to gather her troops and would in any event prefer to show unified solidarity with Alberto. In other words, it had been a manipulation by Pablo to ensure Alberto could continue rather than allowing Laura to take over. And why would he want this? Well, that's because Laura represents the loony anti-capitalist faction, which received something of a trouncing when Podemos Central were having their run-off to decide the leadership, which Iglesias won convincingly.
Initially, it looked as if Alberto and Pablo would get their wish. Then Laura (or someone on behalf of Laura) dropped hints that she would have a crack at becoming gen-sec. Alberto intimated that, in the cause of unity and solidarity (etc.), he might step aside, before making it clear that he wouldn't be. Meanwhile, the Spice Girls had rallied round Laura.
Their number has dwindled markedly in parliament ever since Xelo and Montse were exiled to the Valley of the Fallen behind the PP and forced to become part of the shapeless Mixed Group. Not, it has to be said, that Xelo and Montse would qualify Spice-wise; they're more on the Susan Boyle popular spectrum. But they are out in force elsewhere, such as in Palma with Scary Spice and the endearingly bonkers Eva Frade. Scary said that it would be very positive to have a feminist activist as gen-sec. Eva declared that Laura has thus far provided a "master class on how to conduct new politics", while Sandra Espeja (who conserves the environment on behalf of the Council of Mallorca) believed that Laura's elevation would "feminise" the party. (She, Sandra, might just pass as Sporty, by the way.)
Feminists among the brotherhood then also pitched in on Laura's side. The latest is that there is a "manifesto" under the hashtag of "unity has the name of woman" which has been signed by some one hundred Podemos sorts, numbered among them being Balti, who hadn't previously seemed to wish to take sides. Now faced with all this demand for unity in the name of Laura, Alberto really hasn't gone anywhere to go. Other than out. If he doesn't go, it's impossible to see how he could command the Podemos ranks in parliament, given that all Podemos deputies are backing Laura.
It isn't simply a desire for a woman to be in charge that is behind all this. Laura, it is generally accepted, is more adept than Alberto. Moreover, Alberto, it has been said, hasn't fully got it with the consultative style of Podemos, while there is a perception that he is too easily persuaded to fall in line with PSOE and Més. Laura is less likely to be, which could make life uncomfortable for the matronly Francina Armengol.
Anyway, while all this was going on, the news emerged of a gaff in Son Serra de Marina that Alberto had sublet. More than just sublet, he had apparently been offering it via websites specialising in holiday rentals. He was doing what!? Adding to tourist saturation? A statement subsequently explained that this was all above board, the owner had given permission and Alberto had declared it.
Was news of this subletting just a coincidence? Who can say, other than "I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want ...".
Laura, it would seem, is about to strike a blow against the brotherhood. And there is no brother more eminent in the Balearics Podemos than Alberto Jarabo. The current general secretary, Alberto is about to feel the full force of the unleashed sisterhood combined with the support of brothers as well. Basically, he's on his way out, and Laura will ascend to the Podemos throne (metaphorically speaking, because there are no thrones in Podemos-land).
This in part is all the fault of His Royal (sic) Podemos-ness, Pablo Iglesias. He apparently took all good Balearic Podemosites by surprise when he said on telly that there would be primaries for the Balearic leadership next month. This had been planned for later in the year under the terms of whatever citizens' council had determined it thus (and there are any number of such councils inhabiting the Podemos sphere).
It was then thought that this wasn't such a surprise after all, as an early vote would leave the way open for Alberto to be re-elected. Laura wouldn't have time to gather her troops and would in any event prefer to show unified solidarity with Alberto. In other words, it had been a manipulation by Pablo to ensure Alberto could continue rather than allowing Laura to take over. And why would he want this? Well, that's because Laura represents the loony anti-capitalist faction, which received something of a trouncing when Podemos Central were having their run-off to decide the leadership, which Iglesias won convincingly.
Initially, it looked as if Alberto and Pablo would get their wish. Then Laura (or someone on behalf of Laura) dropped hints that she would have a crack at becoming gen-sec. Alberto intimated that, in the cause of unity and solidarity (etc.), he might step aside, before making it clear that he wouldn't be. Meanwhile, the Spice Girls had rallied round Laura.
Their number has dwindled markedly in parliament ever since Xelo and Montse were exiled to the Valley of the Fallen behind the PP and forced to become part of the shapeless Mixed Group. Not, it has to be said, that Xelo and Montse would qualify Spice-wise; they're more on the Susan Boyle popular spectrum. But they are out in force elsewhere, such as in Palma with Scary Spice and the endearingly bonkers Eva Frade. Scary said that it would be very positive to have a feminist activist as gen-sec. Eva declared that Laura has thus far provided a "master class on how to conduct new politics", while Sandra Espeja (who conserves the environment on behalf of the Council of Mallorca) believed that Laura's elevation would "feminise" the party. (She, Sandra, might just pass as Sporty, by the way.)
Feminists among the brotherhood then also pitched in on Laura's side. The latest is that there is a "manifesto" under the hashtag of "unity has the name of woman" which has been signed by some one hundred Podemos sorts, numbered among them being Balti, who hadn't previously seemed to wish to take sides. Now faced with all this demand for unity in the name of Laura, Alberto really hasn't gone anywhere to go. Other than out. If he doesn't go, it's impossible to see how he could command the Podemos ranks in parliament, given that all Podemos deputies are backing Laura.
It isn't simply a desire for a woman to be in charge that is behind all this. Laura, it is generally accepted, is more adept than Alberto. Moreover, Alberto, it has been said, hasn't fully got it with the consultative style of Podemos, while there is a perception that he is too easily persuaded to fall in line with PSOE and Més. Laura is less likely to be, which could make life uncomfortable for the matronly Francina Armengol.
Anyway, while all this was going on, the news emerged of a gaff in Son Serra de Marina that Alberto had sublet. More than just sublet, he had apparently been offering it via websites specialising in holiday rentals. He was doing what!? Adding to tourist saturation? A statement subsequently explained that this was all above board, the owner had given permission and Alberto had declared it.
Was news of this subletting just a coincidence? Who can say, other than "I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want ...".
Monday, April 24, 2017
All Aboard The Podemos Bus
Coming to us soon - us as in those living in Palma - will be the Hazte Oír "bus of hate", as it has been branded. The bus is scheduled to appear in Mallorca at the start of June. It won't if the town hall and others have anything to do with it. A different bus may be made to feel more welcome. Podemos have their own. It's the "tramabús", trama referring to plot or conspiracy, so it is a bus dedicated to the corrupt and the allegedly corrupt. Among this roll call are ... Mariano Rajoy, Felipe González, José María Aznar, Esperanza Aguirre and Rodrigo Rato. The latter of these, we have been learning over the past few days, allegedly laundered millions while he was both the head of the International Monetary Fund and the deputy prime minister of Spain (this is what the Guardia Civil is said to have ascertained).
The bus has divided opinion within Podemos, broadly along the lines exposed by the recent battle for control of the party. The Iglesias faction, the victorious one, seems pleased with the bus. Those sticking to the wing of the vanquished Infant, Íñigo Errejón, are less enamoured. Indeed, they think it's ridiculous, especially as it's as though Podemos have taken a leaf out of the hated Hazte Oír's book.
There is also some disquiet about how much the bus is costing - some 600 or 700 euros a day. Maybe, therefore, Podemos could offset this by organising excursions. Why not offer a Podemos trip to tourists? The bus could show visitors the more saturated parts of the island (and indeed elsewhere in Spain). Nice idea, but there would need to be an operator's licence. And to not have one simply wouldn't do. All would be above board aboard the Podemos plot bus.
The bus has divided opinion within Podemos, broadly along the lines exposed by the recent battle for control of the party. The Iglesias faction, the victorious one, seems pleased with the bus. Those sticking to the wing of the vanquished Infant, Íñigo Errejón, are less enamoured. Indeed, they think it's ridiculous, especially as it's as though Podemos have taken a leaf out of the hated Hazte Oír's book.
There is also some disquiet about how much the bus is costing - some 600 or 700 euros a day. Maybe, therefore, Podemos could offset this by organising excursions. Why not offer a Podemos trip to tourists? The bus could show visitors the more saturated parts of the island (and indeed elsewhere in Spain). Nice idea, but there would need to be an operator's licence. And to not have one simply wouldn't do. All would be above board aboard the Podemos plot bus.
Thursday, February 16, 2017
The Vogue For Bloodletting
Given all the shenanigans involving what one tires of being told are "anti-austerity newcomers" Podemos, it has been easy to overlook that pro-austerity oldsters, the Partido Popular, are lurking in the murky political undergrowth ready to pounce on the next unsuspecting electorate - in the Balearics, that is.
Away from the islands, and in the safety of The Land That Time Forgot, the PP's national hierarchy lumbers on, a giant staggering through a forest of political half-light, never turning the torches on the corpses that are strewn across its path or are buried in a court's archives. Seemingly immune to the convulsions and eruptions everywhere else, there is a serenity for the PP, capable as they are of closeting themselves within the contentment of another electoral job done (if only just) and of pulling down the shutters to avoid the inward glares into their Jurassic lair.
The PP were forgotten at the weekend. This was not how Pablo Iglesias had intended it. The Podemos knockout to decide a winner was duly timed to coincide with the PP who were gathering only a short distance away. But because everyone was interested only in the left and even more left hooks being delivered by Errejón and Iglesias, no one took any notice of the PP. Podemos were a show, a spectacular, a political prime-time reality broadcast played out in the real-time of up-to-the second voting intentions. Time had indeed forgotten the PP. Their dullness in this post-modern political world of citizen online councils, speakers with piercings and a long mane of hair tied up in a sort of bun, and election brochures stolen from Ikea is the very thing which sustains them. They seem otherworldly, of another and former time.
Iglesias had hoped that having the two congresses at the same time would enable the citizens to draw comparisons. If the citizens did do this, then the comparison would have been between a tetchy bunch of upstart Herberts and the grim familiarity of Mariano Rajoy. In a world of convulsions there is something to be said for a leader who sports a tie, is attended to by a barber with a certain degree of frequency and can at least attempt to converse with Trump.
The cosiness of the PP's gathering was such that controversy was a distant cousin, one for the sentencing of "caso Gürtel" and for the machinations across the sea in the Balearics. And it is here in the Balearics that the national hierarchy would much prefer that a son, who at one time - now long ago - had been looked upon with benevolent, austere goodwill, would quietly disappear. But the hierarchy is not alone in having been confounded, nay startled by the sheer persistence of he who refuses to lie down - José Ramón Bauzá.
We did all rather chortle when Bauzá made it known that he was intending to attempt to once more become president of the party. There is still some chortling, but as the time moves nearer for a regional congress at least a year overdue, there is Bauzá, steadfast in his belief that he can return as the re-conquering hero of the Balearic PP. Never mind that he did his best, and mainly succeeded, in delivering a sharp instrument into the heart of Balearic society and much of his own party; he seems convinced that all that will be forgiven.
The show that the Balearic PP are planning will be bloodletting on a scale that is biblical in its abundance compared with the streams that washed across the feet of Errejón and Iglesias in Madrid last weekend. The long-time favourite to become the party's new president, Biel Company, should win in the kind of canter suited to a man with his agricultural leanings. But Bauzá has pulled two agrarians out of the hat who are his latest cheerleaders. One says that Bauzá was the best president that the Balearics has had. Both are one-time friends of Company but they no longer share company.
Company was once a friend of Bauzá's, too. It was Bauzá who made him environment and agriculture minister, but it was Company who helped to deliver the knife. Hauling in agrarians is Bauzá's way of showing he's every bit a man of conservative, farming sod as Company is.
Bauzá was aghast to see that Company had surrounded himself with members of the hierarchy at the PP congress in Madrid. Here was affirmation of what Madrid hopes for and which the temporary leader of the PP in the Balearics, Miquel Vidal, also hopes for - a single candidate who can pull the factions together. There is little chance, not while Bauzá continues along a path that may result in a humiliation greater than the defeat of the PP he presided over two years ago.
Away from the islands, and in the safety of The Land That Time Forgot, the PP's national hierarchy lumbers on, a giant staggering through a forest of political half-light, never turning the torches on the corpses that are strewn across its path or are buried in a court's archives. Seemingly immune to the convulsions and eruptions everywhere else, there is a serenity for the PP, capable as they are of closeting themselves within the contentment of another electoral job done (if only just) and of pulling down the shutters to avoid the inward glares into their Jurassic lair.
The PP were forgotten at the weekend. This was not how Pablo Iglesias had intended it. The Podemos knockout to decide a winner was duly timed to coincide with the PP who were gathering only a short distance away. But because everyone was interested only in the left and even more left hooks being delivered by Errejón and Iglesias, no one took any notice of the PP. Podemos were a show, a spectacular, a political prime-time reality broadcast played out in the real-time of up-to-the second voting intentions. Time had indeed forgotten the PP. Their dullness in this post-modern political world of citizen online councils, speakers with piercings and a long mane of hair tied up in a sort of bun, and election brochures stolen from Ikea is the very thing which sustains them. They seem otherworldly, of another and former time.
Iglesias had hoped that having the two congresses at the same time would enable the citizens to draw comparisons. If the citizens did do this, then the comparison would have been between a tetchy bunch of upstart Herberts and the grim familiarity of Mariano Rajoy. In a world of convulsions there is something to be said for a leader who sports a tie, is attended to by a barber with a certain degree of frequency and can at least attempt to converse with Trump.
The cosiness of the PP's gathering was such that controversy was a distant cousin, one for the sentencing of "caso Gürtel" and for the machinations across the sea in the Balearics. And it is here in the Balearics that the national hierarchy would much prefer that a son, who at one time - now long ago - had been looked upon with benevolent, austere goodwill, would quietly disappear. But the hierarchy is not alone in having been confounded, nay startled by the sheer persistence of he who refuses to lie down - José Ramón Bauzá.
We did all rather chortle when Bauzá made it known that he was intending to attempt to once more become president of the party. There is still some chortling, but as the time moves nearer for a regional congress at least a year overdue, there is Bauzá, steadfast in his belief that he can return as the re-conquering hero of the Balearic PP. Never mind that he did his best, and mainly succeeded, in delivering a sharp instrument into the heart of Balearic society and much of his own party; he seems convinced that all that will be forgiven.
The show that the Balearic PP are planning will be bloodletting on a scale that is biblical in its abundance compared with the streams that washed across the feet of Errejón and Iglesias in Madrid last weekend. The long-time favourite to become the party's new president, Biel Company, should win in the kind of canter suited to a man with his agricultural leanings. But Bauzá has pulled two agrarians out of the hat who are his latest cheerleaders. One says that Bauzá was the best president that the Balearics has had. Both are one-time friends of Company but they no longer share company.
Company was once a friend of Bauzá's, too. It was Bauzá who made him environment and agriculture minister, but it was Company who helped to deliver the knife. Hauling in agrarians is Bauzá's way of showing he's every bit a man of conservative, farming sod as Company is.
Bauzá was aghast to see that Company had surrounded himself with members of the hierarchy at the PP congress in Madrid. Here was affirmation of what Madrid hopes for and which the temporary leader of the PP in the Balearics, Miquel Vidal, also hopes for - a single candidate who can pull the factions together. There is little chance, not while Bauzá continues along a path that may result in a humiliation greater than the defeat of the PP he presided over two years ago.
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
The Pleasant View From Podemos
The Palacio de Vistalegre in Madrid is not what one might describe as a lovely building. Unlovely might be more accurate. To the sides of its main entrance are two enormous grey slabs with poky windows. They look like some nightmarishly anonymous apartment edifices of a Brutalist East Berlin style. To the front of these are great plinths on which two bulls stand. This is a convention centre built on the site of a former bullring and which has incorporated another.
Symbolically, this curious juxtaposition of highly unattractive, functionalist architecture and national image appears to say a great deal about the occupants of the Palacio at the weekend. The bull, representative of a monarchical, Francoist, conservative Spain that plays fast and loose with animal welfare in the name of honour and tradition, is a manifestation of what Podemos reject. The Brutalism reminiscent of collective dwelling might be said to belong to a political society that Podemos hanker after.
As far as the bulls are concerned, one has to feel that Podemos were playing an ironic joke by selecting Vistalegre for the second time of asking. As for the architecture, rarely has a convention centre been more inappropriately named, but as a symbol of Podemos, is it entirely accurate? Not if you do not consider Podemos to carry the legacy of communism, and any number of "Podemistas" will insist that they do not. But such a legacy helped partly to explain why they all gathered in Madrid at the weekend.
The navel-gazing combined with internal factionalising that have consumed Podemos energies for several months led to Vistalegre II and to the votes to decide the direction in which the party will now head. And one factional aspect had to do with communism; in particular the electoral tie-up with the United Left, which is unashamedly communist.
Podemos, under the combined umbrella of Unidos Podemos, didn't do as well as had been hoped at the June election. This was one reason why Iñigo Errejón had been promoting a less scary Podemos image. He wanted the party to adopt a fluffy demeanour instead of its anxiety-engendering stony face. The Podemistas who went to Madrid or hit the online citizen participation button were torn between a rock and a fluffy place. They chose rock.
There will be those who make an assumption that Podemos are more or less indivisible from communism anyway, but the assumption is far from accurate. In the first place, Podemos do not avow established political philosophies. There may well be strong echoes of these but they are not dogmas as such. And because of this disavowal of established thinking and organisation, there was great unease that the party should have chosen to team up with an established party at the election. And moreover, that it was a party known for its communist leanings.
A key point with Podemos which is all too easily forgotten is that they appealed to a broad spectrum of society. It was pluralist. One only has to look back at opinion polls and actual polls to appreciate that support wasn't only coming from left-leaning society. Partido Popular voters gave Podemos their support as well, seduced by the anti-corruption message and their own disenchantment. In a way, therefore, Vistalegre II was all about Errejón seeking a reconnection with this wider base that had initially served Podemos so well in propelling them to where they had got. The hook-up with the United Left seemed to cause a flight of support.
Pablo Iglesias, having seen off his rival, now has the mandate to move towards what PSOE spokesperson Mario Jiménez has described as "Pabloist-Leninism", a lurch most certainly further towards the radical left. For PSOE, there is an opportunity, it believes, so long as Pedro Sánchez doesn't manage to return as its leader. The centre-left is there for its taking and any thought of accords with Podemos are now firmly out of the window.
But what of Podemos? Are they strengthened or are they weakened? Both. Iglesias has the grip he wanted. He had instilled a certain fear factor by having stated that he would have immediately resigned had things not gone his way at Vistalegre. The Podemistas, many of them, would have sensed a weakening without the most visible face the party possesses. Some may well have been swayed to back him for this reason alone. He is still very much an asset rather than a liability with greater charisma than his rivals.
Nevertheless, there is a weakening. Errejón and his supporters, according to the voting, represent around a third of Podemistas. Errejón himself faces being purged, and it isn't beyond the bounds of possibility that there might be a formal split. In which case - whither Podemos? The next opinion polls are going to be very informative.
Symbolically, this curious juxtaposition of highly unattractive, functionalist architecture and national image appears to say a great deal about the occupants of the Palacio at the weekend. The bull, representative of a monarchical, Francoist, conservative Spain that plays fast and loose with animal welfare in the name of honour and tradition, is a manifestation of what Podemos reject. The Brutalism reminiscent of collective dwelling might be said to belong to a political society that Podemos hanker after.
As far as the bulls are concerned, one has to feel that Podemos were playing an ironic joke by selecting Vistalegre for the second time of asking. As for the architecture, rarely has a convention centre been more inappropriately named, but as a symbol of Podemos, is it entirely accurate? Not if you do not consider Podemos to carry the legacy of communism, and any number of "Podemistas" will insist that they do not. But such a legacy helped partly to explain why they all gathered in Madrid at the weekend.
The navel-gazing combined with internal factionalising that have consumed Podemos energies for several months led to Vistalegre II and to the votes to decide the direction in which the party will now head. And one factional aspect had to do with communism; in particular the electoral tie-up with the United Left, which is unashamedly communist.
Podemos, under the combined umbrella of Unidos Podemos, didn't do as well as had been hoped at the June election. This was one reason why Iñigo Errejón had been promoting a less scary Podemos image. He wanted the party to adopt a fluffy demeanour instead of its anxiety-engendering stony face. The Podemistas who went to Madrid or hit the online citizen participation button were torn between a rock and a fluffy place. They chose rock.
There will be those who make an assumption that Podemos are more or less indivisible from communism anyway, but the assumption is far from accurate. In the first place, Podemos do not avow established political philosophies. There may well be strong echoes of these but they are not dogmas as such. And because of this disavowal of established thinking and organisation, there was great unease that the party should have chosen to team up with an established party at the election. And moreover, that it was a party known for its communist leanings.
A key point with Podemos which is all too easily forgotten is that they appealed to a broad spectrum of society. It was pluralist. One only has to look back at opinion polls and actual polls to appreciate that support wasn't only coming from left-leaning society. Partido Popular voters gave Podemos their support as well, seduced by the anti-corruption message and their own disenchantment. In a way, therefore, Vistalegre II was all about Errejón seeking a reconnection with this wider base that had initially served Podemos so well in propelling them to where they had got. The hook-up with the United Left seemed to cause a flight of support.
Pablo Iglesias, having seen off his rival, now has the mandate to move towards what PSOE spokesperson Mario Jiménez has described as "Pabloist-Leninism", a lurch most certainly further towards the radical left. For PSOE, there is an opportunity, it believes, so long as Pedro Sánchez doesn't manage to return as its leader. The centre-left is there for its taking and any thought of accords with Podemos are now firmly out of the window.
But what of Podemos? Are they strengthened or are they weakened? Both. Iglesias has the grip he wanted. He had instilled a certain fear factor by having stated that he would have immediately resigned had things not gone his way at Vistalegre. The Podemistas, many of them, would have sensed a weakening without the most visible face the party possesses. Some may well have been swayed to back him for this reason alone. He is still very much an asset rather than a liability with greater charisma than his rivals.
Nevertheless, there is a weakening. Errejón and his supporters, according to the voting, represent around a third of Podemistas. Errejón himself faces being purged, and it isn't beyond the bounds of possibility that there might be a formal split. In which case - whither Podemos? The next opinion polls are going to be very informative.
Sunday, February 12, 2017
The Balearic Parliament Show Goes On
Sweet and friendly Francina Armengol was apologising the other day for the "show" that has been the Balearic parliament. It's not the sort of display that the citizens - who else - deserve. Oh really? The citizens may not deserve it but, boy oh boy, have they been having a laugh. And things, as a political party elsewhere once maintained, can only get better, and we have Podemos to once more thank.
While many of the Podemos citizenry is away in Madrid or poised over the participation online voting button in deciding the fate of Pablo and The Infant Errejón, some of it has stayed at home in order to prepare for Tuesday's Great Show. Yes, Francina, the show must go on, and you're partly to blame (or to be thanked). Even if you don't understand a word of what's being said, I'd recommend a revision of normal daytime television viewing habits and tune into Tuesday's parliamentary session, during which Balti will ascend to the presidential (speaker's) throne.
It would be nice to think that this ritual could be performed with Balti clad in pure white robes and with angelic Jarabos and Camargos fluttering above him before anointing him with an artisan-crafted halo. "Truly he is the Son of Pablo," the angels would chant. Alas, this will not be. Balti, we can anticipate, will be sporting a checked sort of lumberjack affair and dodgy jeans. Besides which, any even vaguely religious connotation would be severely frowned upon, as much as any monarchist leanings would be, which Balti most certainly doesn't have.
Francina and chums have been asking (pleading) that when it comes to the moment for Balti to speak, he shows "restraint". They are more than slightly concerned about what he might come out with. This being just one of the reasons why they would have much preferred someone else to replace Xe-Lo Huertas. Will Balti take the opportunity to declare war on the Bourbons or some such?
Balti's elevation to the throne was assisted last week by a surprise guest appearance of none other than our good friend Alberto Rodríguez Rodríguez, aka Natty Dreadlock In A Babylon, the rasta Podemos Congress deputy from Tenerife. One had wondered when the two of them might team up, and prayers that they would do were fulfilled. Natty met Balti and there was a selfie (also containing the clean-cut Alberto Jarabo) in which Natty was sticking his tongue out. As you do.
While in the Babylon that is Palma, Natty was asked whether "a long hair" (Balti) and a rasta mark a change in political aesthetics. Appearance is not important, actions are, he explained. It's better that there is a speaker with long hair than one who looks to favour friends, he added. And one knew precisely to whom he was referring - Xe-Lo.
The former speaker was having her day in court. Not that she was in the dock, but rather she was making her case to be readmitted to Podemos. Among other justifications presented by her lawyer was the fact that she had her right to equality denied by being discriminated against in favour of Balti. This was because Balti had supposedly also supported the cause of Daniel Bachiller. It was the funding of his research laboratory which kicked off the whole Podemos crisis. The Podemos lawyer said the situation with Balti was different, so that was all right then.
While many of the Podemos citizenry is away in Madrid or poised over the participation online voting button in deciding the fate of Pablo and The Infant Errejón, some of it has stayed at home in order to prepare for Tuesday's Great Show. Yes, Francina, the show must go on, and you're partly to blame (or to be thanked). Even if you don't understand a word of what's being said, I'd recommend a revision of normal daytime television viewing habits and tune into Tuesday's parliamentary session, during which Balti will ascend to the presidential (speaker's) throne.
It would be nice to think that this ritual could be performed with Balti clad in pure white robes and with angelic Jarabos and Camargos fluttering above him before anointing him with an artisan-crafted halo. "Truly he is the Son of Pablo," the angels would chant. Alas, this will not be. Balti, we can anticipate, will be sporting a checked sort of lumberjack affair and dodgy jeans. Besides which, any even vaguely religious connotation would be severely frowned upon, as much as any monarchist leanings would be, which Balti most certainly doesn't have.
Francina and chums have been asking (pleading) that when it comes to the moment for Balti to speak, he shows "restraint". They are more than slightly concerned about what he might come out with. This being just one of the reasons why they would have much preferred someone else to replace Xe-Lo Huertas. Will Balti take the opportunity to declare war on the Bourbons or some such?
Balti's elevation to the throne was assisted last week by a surprise guest appearance of none other than our good friend Alberto Rodríguez Rodríguez, aka Natty Dreadlock In A Babylon, the rasta Podemos Congress deputy from Tenerife. One had wondered when the two of them might team up, and prayers that they would do were fulfilled. Natty met Balti and there was a selfie (also containing the clean-cut Alberto Jarabo) in which Natty was sticking his tongue out. As you do.
While in the Babylon that is Palma, Natty was asked whether "a long hair" (Balti) and a rasta mark a change in political aesthetics. Appearance is not important, actions are, he explained. It's better that there is a speaker with long hair than one who looks to favour friends, he added. And one knew precisely to whom he was referring - Xe-Lo.
The former speaker was having her day in court. Not that she was in the dock, but rather she was making her case to be readmitted to Podemos. Among other justifications presented by her lawyer was the fact that she had her right to equality denied by being discriminated against in favour of Balti. This was because Balti had supposedly also supported the cause of Daniel Bachiller. It was the funding of his research laboratory which kicked off the whole Podemos crisis. The Podemos lawyer said the situation with Balti was different, so that was all right then.
Thursday, February 09, 2017
Balti Eats Balti: Mr. Speaker
I have a photo opportunity suggestion for when the new president (speaker) of the Balearic parliament is finally sworn in. He should be whisked off to the nearest curry house, where hopefully they do more than tandoori, in order that the headline can read "Balti eats Balti".
It is just possible that Balti does eat Balti, though his Mallorcan authenticity might possibly preclude this. A hearty dish of organic frito is more likely to be Balti's favoured dish "de jour". Whatever it is, one trusts that it doesn't get stuck in his beard or hair when (if) parliament resumes for the post-lunch session. They have cameras trained on parliament speakers and the speaker, you should take note.
For reasons not entirely clear other than to procrastinate ever longer, Baltasar Picornell will not be sworn in as the new speaker of parliament until next week. It's all a bit like Joe Root taking over as England captain from Alastair Cook. Everyone knows this is going to happen, but process needs to be gone through, which is rather more necessary for electing a parliament speaker than it is an England cricket captain. (Though the social media obsessives would beg to differ; the ones who still hold a candle for Kevin Pietersen and for whom due process was not observed with Cook. The obsessives maintain that Cook sold KP out in order to keep his job.)
Apart from fairly obvious differences between Balti and Joe - appearance, sport, that sort of thing - the one major difference in terms of being lined up for promotion is that Balti only recently became the frontrunner. Podemos had insisted that he would be right for the job but their preference was for another woman to replace the excommunicated Xelo Huertas. Unfortunately, the woman they had in mind, Marta Maicas, has found herself needing to do some explaining to a court in respect of allegations that the digital signature of Montse Seijas was forged - Seijas being the other Podemos deputy to have been terminated. Consequently, it was becoming clear a month ago - because Podemos were saying so - that Balti was "gaining points" in the speaker bid.
But despite assuming pole position, Balti's elevation was far from secure. That was because the Podemos partners in the "agreements for change" - PSOE and Més - didn't want anything to do with him being speaker. They still don't, but their hands have been forced by the Podemos threat to break the agreements and therefore cease to be a "partner".
Having gone through the turmoil of the institutional crisis created by the Huertas affair, the two other partners were insisting that her replacement needed to be able to guarantee stability. In fact, there are still rumblings of this nature, but Balti is being foisted upon them and on parliament because Podemos were never going to give up the parliamentary presidency: it remains for now their most significant position in regional administrations anywhere in Spain.
Why might they be so concerned that Balti will not ensure stability? To answer this, one has to consider Huertas and how she was as speaker. The history books are rapidly being revised, but she was generally felt to have made a decent fist of the job. It is one that does require being evenhanded and also a certain amount of dignity. She may have lost this because of the affair, but even when she was meeting the King and insisting that he spend the money for the official reception on soup kitchens, she didn't come across as being extreme.
This, really, is part of the issue with Balti. Not that he has hippy hair and beard, not that he was a mere metalworker (or whatever it was), but rather that he comes from a background that is strident even by Podemos terms. His membership of the union for the Third Republic and the Balearic civic unit for a Republic should make his meeting with the King something to look forward to, assuming he doesn't boycott it.
Being a Republican, though, hardly sets him out as unusual among Podemos ranks. There has to be something a bit more to the reluctance of PSOE and Més to have not wished to sanction his election. And it may just boil down to the very simple belief that they don't think he's up to the job. Fina Santiago, who is the Més minister for social services, was outraged by the idea that he was being opposed because of his work background. She explained that she believed that there were individuals within Podemos who were better qualified, better suited. She also found it odd that Podemos were backtracking on their aim for the speaker to be a woman.
Such a principle went by the board. Laura Camargo ruled herself out, Maicas was being quizzed by a judge, so there was no other option than a man. Balti it was and Balti it is, unless by some bizarre twist of politicking, the PP's candidate Nuria Riera is elected. Were she to be, then the government's pact would be well and truly busted.
It is just possible that Balti does eat Balti, though his Mallorcan authenticity might possibly preclude this. A hearty dish of organic frito is more likely to be Balti's favoured dish "de jour". Whatever it is, one trusts that it doesn't get stuck in his beard or hair when (if) parliament resumes for the post-lunch session. They have cameras trained on parliament speakers and the speaker, you should take note.
For reasons not entirely clear other than to procrastinate ever longer, Baltasar Picornell will not be sworn in as the new speaker of parliament until next week. It's all a bit like Joe Root taking over as England captain from Alastair Cook. Everyone knows this is going to happen, but process needs to be gone through, which is rather more necessary for electing a parliament speaker than it is an England cricket captain. (Though the social media obsessives would beg to differ; the ones who still hold a candle for Kevin Pietersen and for whom due process was not observed with Cook. The obsessives maintain that Cook sold KP out in order to keep his job.)
Apart from fairly obvious differences between Balti and Joe - appearance, sport, that sort of thing - the one major difference in terms of being lined up for promotion is that Balti only recently became the frontrunner. Podemos had insisted that he would be right for the job but their preference was for another woman to replace the excommunicated Xelo Huertas. Unfortunately, the woman they had in mind, Marta Maicas, has found herself needing to do some explaining to a court in respect of allegations that the digital signature of Montse Seijas was forged - Seijas being the other Podemos deputy to have been terminated. Consequently, it was becoming clear a month ago - because Podemos were saying so - that Balti was "gaining points" in the speaker bid.
But despite assuming pole position, Balti's elevation was far from secure. That was because the Podemos partners in the "agreements for change" - PSOE and Més - didn't want anything to do with him being speaker. They still don't, but their hands have been forced by the Podemos threat to break the agreements and therefore cease to be a "partner".
Having gone through the turmoil of the institutional crisis created by the Huertas affair, the two other partners were insisting that her replacement needed to be able to guarantee stability. In fact, there are still rumblings of this nature, but Balti is being foisted upon them and on parliament because Podemos were never going to give up the parliamentary presidency: it remains for now their most significant position in regional administrations anywhere in Spain.
Why might they be so concerned that Balti will not ensure stability? To answer this, one has to consider Huertas and how she was as speaker. The history books are rapidly being revised, but she was generally felt to have made a decent fist of the job. It is one that does require being evenhanded and also a certain amount of dignity. She may have lost this because of the affair, but even when she was meeting the King and insisting that he spend the money for the official reception on soup kitchens, she didn't come across as being extreme.
This, really, is part of the issue with Balti. Not that he has hippy hair and beard, not that he was a mere metalworker (or whatever it was), but rather that he comes from a background that is strident even by Podemos terms. His membership of the union for the Third Republic and the Balearic civic unit for a Republic should make his meeting with the King something to look forward to, assuming he doesn't boycott it.
Being a Republican, though, hardly sets him out as unusual among Podemos ranks. There has to be something a bit more to the reluctance of PSOE and Més to have not wished to sanction his election. And it may just boil down to the very simple belief that they don't think he's up to the job. Fina Santiago, who is the Més minister for social services, was outraged by the idea that he was being opposed because of his work background. She explained that she believed that there were individuals within Podemos who were better qualified, better suited. She also found it odd that Podemos were backtracking on their aim for the speaker to be a woman.
Such a principle went by the board. Laura Camargo ruled herself out, Maicas was being quizzed by a judge, so there was no other option than a man. Balti it was and Balti it is, unless by some bizarre twist of politicking, the PP's candidate Nuria Riera is elected. Were she to be, then the government's pact would be well and truly busted.
Tuesday, February 07, 2017
Working Eight Months A Year
Carlos Herrera is a journalist. He has a large following on a radio show that goes out on COPE, one of the most listened to broadcasters in the country. By way of background, it is of interest to note that COPE started out life as an essentially religious broadcaster. It has become very much more general in its output, though it would appear that it is owned by the church in that the Spanish Episcopal Conference has 50% of the shares of the company to which COPE belongs. Dioceses and religious orders are other shareholders.
This does perhaps need bearing in mind, as it suggests that COPE might not be rabidly left-wing. Its politics and its ownership are, however, of only passing relevance to today's theme, which is one that Carlos has offered. On his show there is a slot, the title of which lends itself to alternative translations but which I shall call "fools' defibrillator". Carlos and co-host pick up on particular stories and offer to defibrillate those who have uttered foolishness or nonsense. And so it was that he held up to ridicule Laura Camargo of Podemos.
The travel magazine and website Preferente highlighted her inclusion on the show last week, noting - and this may or may not have been ironic - that Camargo is the only person in Podemos in the Balearics who has the capacity to think. She may be, but then what she thinks and says ended up being the target for Carlos.
This was specifically to do with her views on workers in the tourism industry who, after eight months' work, are knackered and shouldn't be expected to have to work through winter and therefore all year. In fact, she said this before Christmas, so the story is an old one. On 23 December I drew attention to her remarks, wondering why it should be deemed acceptable for workers to do no more than eight months.
Still, better than late never the Camargo eight-month opinion surfaced on Carlos's show last week and also became the focus of a set-to between Podemos and Ciudadanos (C's). Carlos found it hard to understand, given, for instance, that radio journalists work all year. They are not the only ones. If anyone is interested, I work twelve months a year, usually seven days a week and not untypically up to eleven or twelve hours a day. Am I knackered? All the time.
Ah but, this is just sitting down and typing, is it not? Generally, yes. But there is being physically knackered and there is being mentally knackered. Neither state is particularly ideal, but suffice it to say that I tended to agree with Carlos's observation.
Camargo came out with this eight-month business in the broader context of tourism policy. We don't want more tourists in the winter, she said, and used the knackered workers as a reason why not. What of course she was really getting at was that we (Podemos) don't want more tourists, full stop. In fact, we'd prefer that there were fewer of them. Camargo and Podemos are highly suspicious of government attempts to erode seasonality and therefore make the tourism season ever longer. The workers, it can seem (and probably are), something of a smokescreen.
Which is not to deny that there are workers in the tourism industry who put in long hours, day after day over a several-month period with few breaks (if at all) and don't get particularly well paid. Camargo has a point, especially when it comes to exploitation, but only up to a point. Politically, she is very much on the side of the workers and has made her feelings about hoteliers well enough known, and the politics were partly where Carlos Herrera was coming from, as most certainly also was the leader of the C's, Albert Rivera. He tweeted the other day that Camargo is a deputy with a party which proposes gifts of income paid for by the state.
Rivera's tweet brought differing responses. Some accused him of demagoguery. Others took issue with the Podemos view of work and supported him. In the latter camp was a tweet which read: "Some consider work to be a punishment and being on the dole a fiesta."
In addition to stirring up the political ill-feeling between Podemos and the C's (not that it needs much stirring), the Camargo remarks served not only as a statement about her party's views on tourism but also to reignite the whole issue of the unbalanced nature of work and employment.
She was essentially saying that the situation which has been created because of seasonality is as it should be. Tourism is not the only industry affected by seasonality, but there are others which are not. Would she advocate everyone working no more than eight months a year? Police, nurses, firemen just to take three examples. Defibrillate away, Carlos.
This does perhaps need bearing in mind, as it suggests that COPE might not be rabidly left-wing. Its politics and its ownership are, however, of only passing relevance to today's theme, which is one that Carlos has offered. On his show there is a slot, the title of which lends itself to alternative translations but which I shall call "fools' defibrillator". Carlos and co-host pick up on particular stories and offer to defibrillate those who have uttered foolishness or nonsense. And so it was that he held up to ridicule Laura Camargo of Podemos.
The travel magazine and website Preferente highlighted her inclusion on the show last week, noting - and this may or may not have been ironic - that Camargo is the only person in Podemos in the Balearics who has the capacity to think. She may be, but then what she thinks and says ended up being the target for Carlos.
This was specifically to do with her views on workers in the tourism industry who, after eight months' work, are knackered and shouldn't be expected to have to work through winter and therefore all year. In fact, she said this before Christmas, so the story is an old one. On 23 December I drew attention to her remarks, wondering why it should be deemed acceptable for workers to do no more than eight months.
Still, better than late never the Camargo eight-month opinion surfaced on Carlos's show last week and also became the focus of a set-to between Podemos and Ciudadanos (C's). Carlos found it hard to understand, given, for instance, that radio journalists work all year. They are not the only ones. If anyone is interested, I work twelve months a year, usually seven days a week and not untypically up to eleven or twelve hours a day. Am I knackered? All the time.
Ah but, this is just sitting down and typing, is it not? Generally, yes. But there is being physically knackered and there is being mentally knackered. Neither state is particularly ideal, but suffice it to say that I tended to agree with Carlos's observation.
Camargo came out with this eight-month business in the broader context of tourism policy. We don't want more tourists in the winter, she said, and used the knackered workers as a reason why not. What of course she was really getting at was that we (Podemos) don't want more tourists, full stop. In fact, we'd prefer that there were fewer of them. Camargo and Podemos are highly suspicious of government attempts to erode seasonality and therefore make the tourism season ever longer. The workers, it can seem (and probably are), something of a smokescreen.
Which is not to deny that there are workers in the tourism industry who put in long hours, day after day over a several-month period with few breaks (if at all) and don't get particularly well paid. Camargo has a point, especially when it comes to exploitation, but only up to a point. Politically, she is very much on the side of the workers and has made her feelings about hoteliers well enough known, and the politics were partly where Carlos Herrera was coming from, as most certainly also was the leader of the C's, Albert Rivera. He tweeted the other day that Camargo is a deputy with a party which proposes gifts of income paid for by the state.
Rivera's tweet brought differing responses. Some accused him of demagoguery. Others took issue with the Podemos view of work and supported him. In the latter camp was a tweet which read: "Some consider work to be a punishment and being on the dole a fiesta."
In addition to stirring up the political ill-feeling between Podemos and the C's (not that it needs much stirring), the Camargo remarks served not only as a statement about her party's views on tourism but also to reignite the whole issue of the unbalanced nature of work and employment.
She was essentially saying that the situation which has been created because of seasonality is as it should be. Tourism is not the only industry affected by seasonality, but there are others which are not. Would she advocate everyone working no more than eight months a year? Police, nurses, firemen just to take three examples. Defibrillate away, Carlos.
Sunday, February 05, 2017
The Playground Of The Balearic Parliament
It doesn't get much better, does it. Aspiring parliamentary headmaster, Vicenç Thomas, took the throne that he covets, if only temporarily, and started to read the register. "Huertas?" "Seijas?" "Has anyone seen Huertas or Seijas?" "They're behind Més," blurted Jarabo. "Huertas, Seijas, why are you behind Més?" "We are of the left," they responded as one. "You may well be, but you were told to go and sit on the naughty chairs behind the PP. So I ask again - why are you behind Més?" "This deputy's going nowhere," insisted Seijas. "Look, I shall ask you only once more to go and sit behind the PP. If you don't, then I'll call security and they will physically move you." "It'll take a small army of security to do that," scoffed Jarabo. "Please, Jarabo, I expect better from you. There will be no weightist or fattist jokes in this chamber. Huertas, Seijas, why are you still there?"
And with that Xe-Lo and Montse arose and plodded off to the one and nines of the public gallery. Rarely, if ever, have the public been privileged to have a former speaker and friend come among them. And the public gallery is to where they will return until such a time as they are granted their wish to be among Mésites, if only in the rear. When might this be? Hell will probably have frozen over or perhaps the arrival of a new headmaster (not Vicenç) will enable a more conciliatory approach. This is unlikely, though, if Jarabo gets his way. Balti is the only man (or woman) for the job, it now seems. And if the Mésites and PSOE turn him down, then Jarabo and Podemos will break the pact. So there. Yah-boo!
They don't want Balti because he's a metalworker, insisted Jarabo. Which isn't strictly accurate as he's a full-time parliamentary deputy. He once was, though. But this isn't of course the reason why PSOEMés don't want him. It's pretty obvious why not. He looks like the one-time bass guitarist with The Allman Brothers Band. That's why. Get a haircut, Balti, and you'll be ushered in no problem.
Once the Xe-Lo/Montse panto was dispensed with, it was the turn of the PP to put on a display. As one they stood up and marched out of the chamber. Normally, in Congress anyway, it's Podemos who are the ones for the walking in response to jibes (typically of a Venezuelan nature) being launched from the PP. The insults were on the other foot (or mouth) in parliament.
Jarabo described a "mafioso relationship" between the PP and Palma police. Illegal trafficking in and possession of weapons, obstruction of justice, trafficking influence, malfeasance, coercion, bribery, threats, extortion, falsehood, insider dealing, crimes against public health, offences against the environment. And there, among the PP ranks, was the alleged "boss" of this network - Alvaro Gijón. Off marched the PP, two of them returning only for formality's sake, while there were heated discussions to a) get them all to go back and b) get Jarabo to apologise, which he didn't.
Vicenç, if he had seriously felt that the parliamentary presidential malarkey was worth it, would have been having second thoughts. Best let Balti handle things in future, Vicenç. Things can only get more ridiculous.
And with that Xe-Lo and Montse arose and plodded off to the one and nines of the public gallery. Rarely, if ever, have the public been privileged to have a former speaker and friend come among them. And the public gallery is to where they will return until such a time as they are granted their wish to be among Mésites, if only in the rear. When might this be? Hell will probably have frozen over or perhaps the arrival of a new headmaster (not Vicenç) will enable a more conciliatory approach. This is unlikely, though, if Jarabo gets his way. Balti is the only man (or woman) for the job, it now seems. And if the Mésites and PSOE turn him down, then Jarabo and Podemos will break the pact. So there. Yah-boo!
They don't want Balti because he's a metalworker, insisted Jarabo. Which isn't strictly accurate as he's a full-time parliamentary deputy. He once was, though. But this isn't of course the reason why PSOEMés don't want him. It's pretty obvious why not. He looks like the one-time bass guitarist with The Allman Brothers Band. That's why. Get a haircut, Balti, and you'll be ushered in no problem.
Once the Xe-Lo/Montse panto was dispensed with, it was the turn of the PP to put on a display. As one they stood up and marched out of the chamber. Normally, in Congress anyway, it's Podemos who are the ones for the walking in response to jibes (typically of a Venezuelan nature) being launched from the PP. The insults were on the other foot (or mouth) in parliament.
Jarabo described a "mafioso relationship" between the PP and Palma police. Illegal trafficking in and possession of weapons, obstruction of justice, trafficking influence, malfeasance, coercion, bribery, threats, extortion, falsehood, insider dealing, crimes against public health, offences against the environment. And there, among the PP ranks, was the alleged "boss" of this network - Alvaro Gijón. Off marched the PP, two of them returning only for formality's sake, while there were heated discussions to a) get them all to go back and b) get Jarabo to apologise, which he didn't.
Vicenç, if he had seriously felt that the parliamentary presidential malarkey was worth it, would have been having second thoughts. Best let Balti handle things in future, Vicenç. Things can only get more ridiculous.
Monday, January 23, 2017
Xe-Lo Likes Mick
Xe-Lo and her new best friend, Mick Vidal of the PP, were all smiles. Together they had placed an obstacle in the path of the coup attempt. Xe-Lo was not for leaving, other than to walk out of parliament with Mick, if not quite in hand in hand but with her reaching for a fag, as she had so unflatteringly been seen to do when her and Mick's courtship was starting a few weeks ago.
It turned out that parliament's lawyer had produced a document requiring Xe-Lo's instant dismissal. Xe-Lo hadn't seen this and nor had Mick. Right, they said, we're off, and they were, leaving the self-proclaimed Father of the House, PSOE's Vicenç Thomas, to do some explaining. Vicenç, first vice-president of parliament (there always have to be at least two VPs for pretty much anything), had taken over the meeting because Xe-Lo, reasonably enough, said she couldn't chair it given that her job was on the line. Out came the document, one with which Vicenç had believed that the blow could be struck. Alas no, where Vicenç was concerned. At least for now. He rather fancies Xe-Lo's job, allegedly.
What were the PP playing at, the "pact" demanded to know. It was obvious what they were playing at - causing mischief. Pact-ites railed against PP irresponsibility, while the PP were rolling around the floor with laughter. The greatest institutional crisis in the history of the Balearic parliament, the pact said, and the PP were to blame. Which wasn't strictly accurate. The crisis has all been of Podemos's making.
The crisis is such that a not unreasonable question was there to be asked about this document. Who had instructed the lawyer? As Xe-Lo was (still is) president, does she not get involved in such a matter? There again, she was unlikely to go all turkey and Christmas and tell the lawyer to order her dismissal.
Given that no one has a clue what's going on at present, the race to be Xe-Lo's successor was shunted into the background. And Podemos discovered, to their horror, that one of the runners and riders - the preferred one on account of her being a member of the sisterhood - was herself being shunted into the parliament presidential sidings. Marta Maicas had been cited by a judge in respect of Montse Seijas's "denuncia" for the digital signature falsification business. If not Marta, that leaves Podemos with only the Balti man, Picornell, as a front runner.
Neither Marta nor Balti curry a great deal of favour with certain pact-ites (especially PSOE). They are looked upon as being, well, too "shouty". Parliament and Podemos may live to regret the Xe-Lo crisis, given that all parties believed she was in fact rather good at her job, when not, for instance, being on holiday in Rome. PSOE would like the Father of the House to be officially anointed as daddy. And Vicenç wouldn't say no. The greater crisis would then ensue. Podemos would lose their one real hold on power not just in the Balearics but in any Spanish region. The pact would be subject to even greater pressure than it already is.
Meanwhile, the Podemos sisterhood credentials were in fact taking a further hammering. In addition to the alleged "blackmailing" of Carmen Azpelicueta - "be a good girl, and we'll look for a job for you" - it now seems that when a woman was being interviewed for a post as an adviser at the Council of Mallorca, she was asked if she has plans to get pregnant. That is a question that cannot be asked.
It turned out that parliament's lawyer had produced a document requiring Xe-Lo's instant dismissal. Xe-Lo hadn't seen this and nor had Mick. Right, they said, we're off, and they were, leaving the self-proclaimed Father of the House, PSOE's Vicenç Thomas, to do some explaining. Vicenç, first vice-president of parliament (there always have to be at least two VPs for pretty much anything), had taken over the meeting because Xe-Lo, reasonably enough, said she couldn't chair it given that her job was on the line. Out came the document, one with which Vicenç had believed that the blow could be struck. Alas no, where Vicenç was concerned. At least for now. He rather fancies Xe-Lo's job, allegedly.
What were the PP playing at, the "pact" demanded to know. It was obvious what they were playing at - causing mischief. Pact-ites railed against PP irresponsibility, while the PP were rolling around the floor with laughter. The greatest institutional crisis in the history of the Balearic parliament, the pact said, and the PP were to blame. Which wasn't strictly accurate. The crisis has all been of Podemos's making.
The crisis is such that a not unreasonable question was there to be asked about this document. Who had instructed the lawyer? As Xe-Lo was (still is) president, does she not get involved in such a matter? There again, she was unlikely to go all turkey and Christmas and tell the lawyer to order her dismissal.
Given that no one has a clue what's going on at present, the race to be Xe-Lo's successor was shunted into the background. And Podemos discovered, to their horror, that one of the runners and riders - the preferred one on account of her being a member of the sisterhood - was herself being shunted into the parliament presidential sidings. Marta Maicas had been cited by a judge in respect of Montse Seijas's "denuncia" for the digital signature falsification business. If not Marta, that leaves Podemos with only the Balti man, Picornell, as a front runner.
Neither Marta nor Balti curry a great deal of favour with certain pact-ites (especially PSOE). They are looked upon as being, well, too "shouty". Parliament and Podemos may live to regret the Xe-Lo crisis, given that all parties believed she was in fact rather good at her job, when not, for instance, being on holiday in Rome. PSOE would like the Father of the House to be officially anointed as daddy. And Vicenç wouldn't say no. The greater crisis would then ensue. Podemos would lose their one real hold on power not just in the Balearics but in any Spanish region. The pact would be subject to even greater pressure than it already is.
Meanwhile, the Podemos sisterhood credentials were in fact taking a further hammering. In addition to the alleged "blackmailing" of Carmen Azpelicueta - "be a good girl, and we'll look for a job for you" - it now seems that when a woman was being interviewed for a post as an adviser at the Council of Mallorca, she was asked if she has plans to get pregnant. That is a question that cannot be asked.
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