There are parties that have a clear position on international affairs. And then there is the Popular Party, which with the war in Iran seems to be practicing a new Olympic discipline: the ideological triple somersault without a net.
Because the PP's thing these days is fascinating. I explain to you.
Donald Trump decides to bomb Iran. A decision, let's say, legally debatable, diplomatically risky, and strategically explosive. And the Popular Party enters a kind of geopolitical existential crisis.
Of course, the problem is delicate. Trump is Trump, we already know that: an uncomfortable figure. But it's also not advisable to anger too much a certain sector of the conservative electorate that still looks at him with some sympathy. At the same time, cheerfully supporting a bombing without international coverage doesn't look very European, nor very moderate, nor even very 21st century.
So the PP has found the perfect solution: to say one thing and, the next day, the opposite. One day they appeal to the defense of allies. The next they recall that Spain has always been committed to peace. And on the third? Well, we'll see what the talking points of the day say.
If the international position of the PP was already confusing, the episode of the “diplomatic heating” has been directly anthological. According to several popular leaders, Minister Margarita Robles told the United States ambassador, in their Wednesday meeting, a forceful phrase: “I am with Trump”. A perfect phrase to be outraged by. A phrase ready to circulate through talk shows, social networks and WhatsApp groups at the speed of light.
Small inconvenience: the phrase did not exist. Because they were talking about the heating. And what Margarita Robles said was: “I am comfortable.”
But of course, once the hoax is underway, why stop at details as irrelevant as reality? So some leaders of the PP kept repeating the false phrase with admirable conviction. As in that unwritten principle of the trade: that the truth never spoil a good headline. That blind faith that is only achieved when one decides not to let the facts ruin a good indignation.
Meanwhile, Pedro Sánchez —who in international politics may have many flaws, but certainly is not slow in building narratives— has found his position in five seconds: “No to war.”
A classic. A vintage slogan of Spanish politics that always works. And while Sánchez raises the banner, Alberto Núñez Feijóo continues to search for the instruction manual for foreign policy. Because between Trump, Iran, the allies, the hoaxes and now also diplomatic heating, the feeling is that the Popular Party doesn't quite know where to position itself.
And of course, when one doesn't know where to stand, one ends up staying in no man's land. That said, very comfortable, of course. Exactly as comfortable as Minister Robles.
Anyway, that the Popular Party continues working intensely to find and fix its position. But don't worry: as soon as they find it, we will tell you.