Letters with bullets in Spain: the regional hate campaign in Madrid
Demonstration against the policies of Isabel Diaz Ayuso, president of the region of Madrid, caricatured in the procession in puppet with a long nose of Pinocchio, on April 17, 2021 in the Spanish capital.
AP - Paul White
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
It has been a long time since Spain experienced such a hostile and polarized climate during an election campaign.
In this case that of the regional in Madrid scheduled for May 4.
Conservative President Isabel Diaz Ayuso is given favorite for her re-election.
But the climate of confrontation makes the ballot uncertain, as the far right monopolizes all the media attention.
In question, a controversy around letters of death threats containing firearm bullets.
First received by leaders of the left, such a letter was intercepted on Tuesday, April 27, this time intended for the right-wing president herself.
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From our correspondent in Madrid,
A harsh and even violent electoral climate.
What happened so that suddenly everything changed and all the candidates looked at each other like faience dogs?
It all started with a radio debate, which took place last Friday.
The candidate of the radical left party Unidas Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, says he is very disturbed that he has just received death threats.
This is a letter aimed at him, his parents and his partner Irene Montero, also Minister of Parity in the government of Pedro Sanchez of union of the left.
And in this letter, four bullets from a gun.
However, during this debate the far-right candidate of the Vox party mocks this threat, says that she does not believe it.
With that, offended, Pablo Iglesias left the studio, and with him the two other left candidates.
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See also: Elections in Spain: in Madrid, the regional campaign is getting worse
Threat to be taken seriously
This episode changed the situation, reports our correspondent in Madrid,
François Musseau
.
Since then, the three left-wing candidates have announced that they will no longer debate with the far right.
This week's three debates on public channel RTVE and private television Sexta have been canceled.
Worse, the national leader of Vox Santiago Abascal has assured several times since that these death threats are "
a montage, an operation of marketing and victimization
".
The trouble is that both Interior Minister Grande Marlaska and Civil Guard director Maria Gamez also received very similar letters, also with bullets slipped into the envelope.
According to the country's police officials, these threats should be taken very seriously, especially since the author, or their perpetrators, come from the ranks of the extreme right.
Last twist this Tuesday: we learn that a new letter with bullets was intercepted by the Spanish post with the recipient Isabel Dias Ayuso herself.
The conservative president (PP) of the Madrid region denounced the political use that, according to her, the left makes of these threats and spoke of "
circus
".
The Minister of Tourism in Pedro Sanchez's government, Maria Reyes Maroto, also received an envelope on Monday containing a "
bloody knife
", but according to all Spanish media, a person suffering from a mental illness has been identified as being the sender.
Towards a shift to the left?
The re-election of Isabel Dias Ayuso, very popular and given great favorite, is it no longer certain?
All the polls say she's off to a good start.
It is indeed very popular, especially because with it, Madrid is the only capital of Europe where all shops and cultural places are open in the midst of a pandemic.
But what the polls also say is that in order to obtain the majority necessary to form the regional government, it will
necessarily need the far right as an ally
.
However, in the current deleterious and hateful climate, this same extreme right, the Vox party, has become infrequent.
Another parameter to take into account: with this demonization of the ultras, the left electorate could very well mobilize strongly, and for the first time in 40 years, govern the region of Madrid, the richest in the country.
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To read also: Spain: Vox, new heavyweight extremist of the political landscape
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