It’s blistering out there. The asphalt melts, the ground cracks, and the sun seems to turn the mind to wax. Even the body reels, calling a full-scale work stoppage. In the middle of this heatwave, Pedro Sánchez rises to urge the defense of democracy. Right now? In the peak of a scorcher? Well, for those listening, it’s time to roll up sleeves. If there’s anyone left who hasn’t, they should start. Where to begin? With transparency, he says. Ah, transparency—the glittering powder of politics. But what concrete steps follow that call? A quick tour of European guidelines and then—wait and see. And then the question lingers: what is there to do with all this rhetoric?
There Sánchez stands, wearing a grin that toes the line between audacious mischief and unearned confidence, especially when not truly needed. He pivots to Alberto Núñez Feijóo from the podium and asks plainly: “Will Vox and the PP part ways forever, or are they taking a pause? Or is this the start of a loud, open relationship?” The grin softens into a rueful laugh, the kind that lands with a thud in a serious room. “I say this because Mr. Abascal has already taken a step toward his flirtation with Viktor Orbán, the pro-Putting ultraconservative,” he teases, while Feijóo can scarcely find a friendly stance when Spain scores a second goal. The PP leader uses the moment to frame Sánchez’s measures as “the greatest assault on press freedom in Spanish democracy.” The crowd erupts—perhaps a little too loudly—and the moment is rounded off with a jab about Begoña Gómez and a joking nudge to retreat to a desk and draft a “final and definitive letter.”
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Amid the laughter and the mutual accusations, the exchange drags on with hyperbole. Another day wasted, some would say, as each side aims to win back the trust of citizens who feel let down. The skepticism spans beyond politicians to the press, which is increasingly under pressure from real, dangerous threats to democracy. Toying with the idea of transparency without substance only adds a thicker layer of opacity. And with the heat rising, even the mud dries into hard earth. The land feels parched, and so does the faith that such debates are delivering clarity and guidance a nation can rely on.