Interview with María Dolores de Cospedal
María Dolores de Cospedal: "The macho attacks have hurt me a lot"
- In the first interview that María Dolores de Cospedal grants after her abrupt departure from politics, the former secretary general of the PP denounces the constant attacks she suffered - "they wanted my civil death," he says - and rules out his return. The tranquility recovered by a "gratifying" position as a lawyer of the State in the Supreme Court, and with time now for her husband and her son, the one who was one of the most powerful women in Spain tells us about her new life.
Tuesday of last week. Six in the afternoon. The Punic case continues to hammer Genoa. While its leaders cross messages via WhatsApp, a classical music thread plays on a roof top with zenithal views of the Gran Vía. There, a lawyer from the State dressed in a white suit and completely oblivious to headlines about corruption waits for months. They would have overshadowed his face. That face that had never radiated as much light as now through the darkness of politics. Because this Madrid no longer bears the marks of the first line of fire in her eyes. Of betrayals. From the attacks of the press. From his confrontation with the dog face with Barcenas. Nor of resentment. The former general secretary of the PP María Dolores de Cospedal has not pronounced since last November she left the policy through the back door after almost two decades. Without the public support of that party for which he so often faced.
The appearance of a series of recordings of her husband, Ignacio López del Hierro, with the controversial commissioner José Villarejo advanced an abandonment that she had already decided when she lost the primaries. It has been 10 months of reflection, of starting a "gratifying" life as a State attorney in the Supreme Court and of spending time that she could not to her family, especially her son, Ricardo, and her husband, with whom she will celebrate that night Happy your 10 years of marriage.
Why break your silence now? I needed some time for reflection and Yo Dona has given me the opportunity to be part of your project. It is a magazine that I have always liked because of the approach with which it addresses general issues from the perspective of women. An exciting challenge to write about what I want from my point of view and no longer as a party leader. Now I will be able to say things that I have always believed in and freely, because when one is a secretary general she is upset. Do you miss politics? Because you carried it in your blood ... No. The restlessness is carried in the blood by the subjects that happen in your country. I think I will have political restlessness until I die, but the activity as such I do not miss it.Do not you miss those moments in which it was the center of all the flashes, in which I had power? Not at all. Are you worried about what the media is still writing about you? I don't practically follow them.A day after this interview, the former Minister of Defense would celebrate the acquittal of the PP for the case of erasing Bárcenas hard drives that cost so many attacks and for which he was never charged: "Finally justice has made clear another great lie, it has been six years. Time puts everyone in their place but does not return the damage caused, nor the outrages or false accusations, "he would tell us.
What has recovered outside the political battle? Time for me, my friends and my family. I had hardly rested for many years and I have been able to reflect and see things with perspective. To be aware of what I did well and what I was wrong about. What was wrong? In many things. In getting too involved, that seems like a mistake in Spain. In politics it is punished, in the private world it is rewarded. Did it abandon the first line with a bitter taste? There is a bitter part that also occurs in many areas of life, what happens is that in politics there is a light bulb above . When I decided that I wanted to be part of a project, I never thought that politics would sometimes turn into a kind of machine to destroy human beings, a crusher. It must not be that. It is bad, because valid and vocational people do not want to enter politics. Has it felt that they have destroyed it? They have hurt me. I left with a different flavor than I thought, but fortunately time puts things in their place and now I feel very well.More darling? I feel very loved in the street and comforted by many people, and I appreciate it, because Politics is very ungrateful. Would you recommend your son Ricardo to be a politician? He would rather not be. If you want to be a militant or part of a political project, fine, but not that it was your main activity. He has been aware of what his mother has suffered. Have his parents been glad that he left public activity? Surely more than me, because they have seen how his daughter was harmed. They have suffered, but they have also felt proud of me.Free time
My last readings
The colors of the fire, by Pierre Lemaitre; Istanbul, city and memories, of Orhan Pamuk, and La trilogía de Trajano, by Santiago Posteguillo.
My favorite series
The Good Wife, Homeland, Narcos, Fariña and House of Cards.
My star dish
Gazpacho. I also like desserts very well.
My side handyman
I know how to assemble Ikea furniture.
My fashion style
Classic with a touch of transgression: I like heels, narrow skirts but not prints.
The passing of the years
I take good care of my skin, but I'm afraid of cosmetic touch-ups. I have been well over the years. Being an older mother has rejuvenated me.
Sport
I really like to walk. I used to do ballet, but I have regular meniscus. I was silly, in politics I should have done yoga to relax, but I never found the time.
What did you think of the condemnation against La Manada de Pamplona? That there are herds is outrageous and they have to have the most absolute condemnation, but I think you also have to be careful when judging these types of cases and that justice is fair . I am not referring to the specific case of La Manada de Pamplona. But I have also lived as a Minister of Defense who spoke of a supposed military pack and was a lie. These issues must be very rigorous because, if not, we are the harmed women. Do we have to improve the Law of gender violence? The number of women killed does not decrease. I do not believe that by making the law more or less hard there will be less violence. We do not want to say it out loud because it is politically incorrect, but if one sees statistics on gender violence there is a very high percentage of people who have not been educated in Spain. We have to continue working on the education of children. It is an issue that has to be worked on since childhood. Would I have welcomed Open Arms? What I would not have done is to say one day one thing and the next the opposite. In immigration policy you have to be consistent. In the Open Arms there were many things that we do not know, how that ship picked up those people, who signed it, with what money was paid ... There is a human trafficking business in the Mediterranean and for it to work it needs that in on the other side there are people who come to collect those barges that are drifting. These poor people have left their lives and finances to pay some scoundrels. You have to investigate it because you can't encourage the mafias.According to the criteria of
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