The State at the service of the PP

Under normal conditions, in countries with stronger democracies than that of Spain, the head of state or the government will often use a positive economic situation to justify their policies. What is not normal in democratic countries is for the highest political representative in the land to take advantage of the situation to attack political adversaries. That is one of the uses of state power for partisan purposes. This is what Mariano Rajoy did yesterday, when, after presenting positive economic figures that are more the result ofd outside factors than his own erratic policies, represented Catalan sovereignty and the alternative of Podemos as apocalyptic threats to the social welfare that the PP has managed to obtain. That in a territory with a rate of unemployment double that of the Eurozone average.

Rajoy presented budget figures that he knows cannot be managed. In the best of cases, he will have to ally with another political party. All the figures he presented yesterday were to justify a series of measures with clear partisan objectives. How do you lower the upper spending limit, given that there would be immediate repercussions on the quality of services, and then announce a wage rise for civil servants? Civil servants have made sacrifices during the crisis, although no less than the rest of the state's workforce. He also promised to reduce taxes. Great news, especially if it were a real reduction and not a return to the levels the PP inherited when it came into government. Rajoy presented the figures as a triumph in an attempt to win votes.