Spain shows regional nationalists make bad coalition partners
Pedro Sánchez discovers how unwieldy his disparate coalition is
WHEN THE conservative People’s Party (PP) won Spain’s elections in 1996, its supporters chanted “Pujol! Enano! Habla castellano!” They were taunting the diminutive separatist leader of Catalonia, Jordi Pujol: “Pujol! Dwarf! Speak Spanish!” The next day, though, it turned out the PP would need support from Mr Pujol’s party to govern, and it is said that the chant quickly changed to “Pujol! Guaperas! Habla lo que quieras!“ “Pujol! Handsome! Speak whatever you like!”
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This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Ungainly Spain”
Europe January 20th 2024
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From the January 20th 2024 edition
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