Manuel Valls: "The left wants to return to the division of the two Spains"

Former French minister Manuel Valls landed in Spanish politics in the fall of 2018 with a call for constitutionalism to join forces in Barcelona against the independence movement and Colau's populism.

An attempt to form a single candidacy in the municipal elections that, although it failed due to lack of support, is for Manuel Valls the formula that the PP, Cs and all the constitutional socialism that rejects the embrace should now explore in the whole of Spain by Pedr

or Sánchez to Podemos and the nationalists.

In recent weeks there has been much speculation about his possible return to French politics, as he regained a lot of public presence.

Is the stage in Barcelona coming to an end?

I came to Barcelona because it was a personal project, a change of life, but it was also a project to stop the independence movement in Catalonia, as in the end we succeeded in preventing the mayor's office from falling into the hands of ERC.

Of that I am proud, even though Ada Colau is imposing her ideological agenda without caring about the pandemic.

If the people of Barcelona do not move away from the independence movement, the city will be isolated from the real world for a long time.

That is why I am staying in Barcelona, ​​together with all those who want to fight against what is happening.

Also, I am happy here with my wife.

In Paris I have family, friends and I go often.

I don't think I have to say anything else, or attend to the rumors, hoaxes and lies that appear every day in the Barcelona press.

How do you see the different ways of managing the pandemic between Madrid and Barcelona?

The Catalan capital has opted to close everything, causing the complaint of freelancers and businessmen.

I am less critical than many of the general management of the pandemic, although mistakes have been made: time was wasted, there has been frivolity, and people have been treated in a very childish way.

I am surprised by the permanent political fight with this issue, the fight between the central government and Madrid, between the Generalitat and the government.

However, I try not to criticize more than necessary because I am very concerned about our democracies with the sum of the different crises: health, social, political.

They are going to live very difficult moments.

On the different management models, there are several and in Europe, to be fair, only the one in Germany has worked.

For the first time, health was clearly chosen over the economy.

Today I think we have to choose a more balanced model.

Despite the severity of the current crisis, the Government prefers to agree on budgets with ERC and with Bildu.

Some in Spain have forgotten that history can be tragic.

Our democracies, freedom, tolerance are fragile and this crisis will reinforce populism.

We see how they want to load the model that has given the forty best years of the modern history of Spain.

There is no memory, there is no tragic feeling, hence the enthronement of Bildu by the Government as the protagonist of Spain's politics.

It is unprecedentedly unscrupulous and it is a glaring political error.

When Pedro Sánchez requires the help of Arnaldo Otegi, he abjures all ethical commitment.

The PSOE sells its soul, betrays its values ​​and reason for being.

It is an insult to the victims of ETA and to the entire nation.

The PSOE says that Bildu's support is "good news for democracy."

Is there not a single socialist deputy willing to say no to that pact?

Are they robots without feelings, without ethics, without political dignity?

This lack of ethics and memory terrifies me.

But it is also a huge political error, because neither Bildu nor ERC are progressive as the Government says, but rather deeply reactionary.

It sadly reminds me of that alliance on the part of the French left with Islamism.

That PSOE and Podemos also do not say that those votes from Bildu are necessary, because there is another way as Inés Arrimadas has explained it very clearly.

It is also a pact against Europe, where red lines are put to the agreements with the extreme right and left.

You collaborate with the platform "The Spain that gathers", together with former socialist leaders such as Nicolás Redondo.

Do you see the articulation of an alternative left-wing project to Sánchez and Iglesias feasible?

The left has been experiencing a profound crisis throughout Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall, which is further aggravated in Spain by its drift towards nationalism.

It is very serious that the political agenda is marked by Mr. Pablo Iglesias, as is the general passotism in the face of the trouble with Bildu, the attacks for the first time on the King from the Government itself, the elimination of Spanish as a vehicular language.

It is a concession to ERC.

The left is looking for the confrontation, to return to the two Spains.

If I can help the PSOE, but they have the problem and the veterans, the new generations, must move and promote an alternative.

The PSOE must be aware that nationalism and populism cannot be tamed by making a pact with it.

Sánchez seems very comfortable with Podemos ...

Podemos reflects the worst of populism, they seek to denigrate our democratic system of coexistence to build a country in hatred, separation and personal revenge.

It is extremely serious that a firm government party supports the three dictatorships in South America, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba.

Or his attacks on the Crown.

It is the first time that Spain has been destroyed since the Government.

The double-headed dragon of Spain has been reborn and I hold the PSOE responsible for it because it is the one that governs.

The only solution is to go back to 78, that is, to the pact, the consensus, the union of the parties ... That is why I liked Pablo Casado's speech in the motion of censure.

I hope it is the beginning of a strategy like in France and Germany to occupy the center.

This is Europe.

The PP will not have it easy with Vox, but it must remain faithful to the values.

In that sense Casado is acting as a great leader.

What do you think of Inés Arrimadas' strategy of reaching out to Sánchez?

Is there political space for Citizens?

When you betray or make mistakes in the field of values, you pay double, and Cs did it with his de facto alliance with Vox in Andalusia and Madrid, with the tone that Albert Rivera used when he tried to represent moderation ... It will be very difficult for Cs reclaim your space.

Now, I think that the role of Arrimadas is very useful for the recovery of the center space against those who do not believe in the Constitution, do not believe in liberal democracy, and because it will reveal the true position of the PSOE with the budgets.

Zapatero lost the Government due to an economic crisis, can the socialpodemite Executive follow in his footsteps?

We must be aware that the European response is essential to get out of this crisis and to endure the governments.

The Italian government has resisted with Giuseppe Conte these months because of its harmony with Brussels, as well as the German coalition between conservatives and socialists.

Be careful in Spain, because trying to manage against European criteria as Podemos intends is very dangerous.

Catalonia will go to the polls on February 14, it has been published that you could explore some type of alliance with the PP.

I warned that I was not in Spain to run for all the elections.

The only alliance I sought at the time is that of all the constitutionalist parties and civil society in Catalonia, to offer a powerful response to separatism.

It could not be, but that unity is still essential.

In Madrid it is believed that the independence process is no longer dangerous, but it can come out of the polls reinforced.

Why is this unity of constitutionalism not possible in Catalonia?

The PSC is the main responsible.

The Catalan socialists have given up on having a project to win.

History will highlight his lack of commitment, Miquel Iceta conforms to the nationalist status quo.

Nationalism is still very dangerous, as is Islamism, with a great presence in Catalonia.

Has the silence of Spain surprised you in Macron's call to fight Islamism?

There has been a lack of solidarity from many countries.

In Spain they do not want to see what is one of the great dangers that Islamism represents in Europe.

It is fueled by political Islam that lives off Wahhabism, the help of countries like Qatar, the role of Erdogan who wants to take the leadership of Sunnism and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Spain has been hard hit by jihadism, and it remains their target because among other things they see its political weakness and division.

But even so, we continue with the great one.

They have not understood that it is a war of civilizations, that they attack us because we are a democracy, with universal values, a Judeo-Christian tradition and with large Muslim communities.

They want to divide us.

We need more and better security policies, greater cooperation from the intelligence services.

There were between 5000 and 7000 Europeans who went to fight with the Islamic State, many died, others will return one day and others are in prisons, which are the school of radicalization of many criminals.

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