In Madrid, threatening letters disturb the regions: "Spain is re-enacting the civil war"

EDITORIAL

In Spain, mysterious threatening letters electrify the countryside. Several political figures have received letters containing bullets or a knife, a few days before the regional elections of May 4, in Madrid. While the campaign has so far been dominated by the issue of the coronavirus epidemic, the left has now placed the fight against the far right at the heart of the ballot, while the right denounces the political use of these threats. For our editorialist Vincent Hervouët, these heated debates are mostly dominated by confusion. 

"If it weren't for the million corpses of 1936, one would be tempted to laugh about it. The ballot is local, but it looks like the final battle of good and evil. Spain is replaying the civil war. fears him, she believes him, and emotion and confusion are on every floor. 

The candidates stop talking to each other

The pot has been overflowing since the end of last week.

The leader of Podemos, the radical left, the interior minister, who is gay, and the head of the civil guard, who is female, received an anonymous letter and the death threats were accompanied by bullets, like the ones formerly used in the Spanish army.

Monday, the Minister of Tourism found in the mail a knife all red with blood or paint.

Police question the suspect, who is mentally ill.

The political class is indignant.

These horny accessories ignite the imaginations ... And for the first time in a year, we no longer talk about the Covid.

Moreover, the politicians in the countryside have completely stopped talking to each other.

The leader of Podemos denounced the impunity that would benefit the far right and the candidate of Vox, the radical right, having questioned the authenticity of the threats, he slammed the door.

End of the debate, we do not argue with the enemy.

For his part, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez outbid Sunday with a solemn appeal.

It is no longer a question of protecting Madrid: the official slogan has become "protect democracy".

No pasaran!

The left stirs up the ghosts of the past

The polls give the center-right president reelected, but she will need the nationalists to rule the region. The left claims that this alliance is illegitimate, that the right is Franco's heir and that it is continuing the civil war. In reality, the PSOE and the PP, the two major governing parties, have refocused so much that they are practically interchangeable. To differentiate itself, the left stirs up the ghosts of the past and also imposes ultra-progressive societal reforms, like when it legalized cannabis last month. "Viva la muerte" was the rallying cry of the Francoists. It could be that of the Islamist suicide bombers, the only fascists who do not pretend in Spain. "