Everyone out

PalmaEvery ruler or aspirant to govern chooses a stage that matches their ambitions. The Cathedral of Mallorca was the perfect backdrop for Santiago Abascal, who just over a week ago landed in Palma right in front of the cathedral portal. The solemnity of the temple, too, especially as a religious symbol, the longings for greatness of the Spanish far-right leaders, all the flags that these people always wave, and the enthusiasm of the attendees painted a grandiloquent and ridiculous scene. The soundtrack accompanied: between applause and shouts of "president," it didn't take long for the habitual "Pedro Sánchez, son of a bitch" to be incorporated into the repertoire. The grandeur of the stage, the protagonist's aspiration for greatness, and the misery were in sync.

It didn't stop there. Once the rally was over, a part of the attendees moved to the Plaça d'Espanya to berate those camped out for the right to housing. The far right uses insults as a form of communication. This often happens in groups that say that authority, order, and respect must be imposed. These are ways we already know. Donald Trump has also known how to congregate devoted crowds; among his followers were many immigrant citizens who believed that such a hardline policy did not apply to them. Until it did. Mass deportations and the persecution of migrants have contributed to him losing part of that support. The midterm elections have been the demonstration that support for a ruler is not blindfolded.

In any case, in Palma we also have a curious way of understanding public order. It didn't bother Mayor Jaime Martínez that Abascal and Vox chose the Cathedral as the backdrop for their display of strength, with all that expression of the level of education that accompanied it. On the other hand, those who were camping in the Plaça d'Espanya to demand decent housing did find them intolerable. He has kicked them out. It may seem that public space belongs to everyone, but not all presences are equally welcome there. There are shouts that are tolerated and people with cardboard signs that are not; there are gatherings that some enjoy and protests that bother them.

All of this has a family resemblance: the arrogance, the intimidation, the violence, the contempt for those who think differently, and the permanent confusion between authority and imposition. It is a way of doing politics that needs adversaries, that feeds on the humiliation of others, and that finds in tension a form of communication. Later, when the time comes to govern, slogans do not pay the rent, insults do not solve problems, and promises of severity can end up hurting those who applauded them. Trump has already verified that crowds also get tired of paying the consequences of his policies and even his ways. We should not need for Abascal and his followers to reach power to discover this. Now, while we are still in time.