The strike that the parties want to (un)do

PalmaThe general strike on Wednesday gave us a sociological experiment, because on the eve of the election campaign even flies have an unusual significance and provoke excessive reactions from political parties. Furthermore, this strike has a nuance that politicians deliberately ignore or are unable to understand: it is a protest against a structural situation that, beyond specific governments, condemns more and more people to misery. A controlled misery, yes, because we are not yet dying of hunger. But it leaves thousands of people with no future other than survival. The problem is that no government has been able to stand up to the structure that benefits capital in such basic aspects as housing.

Thus, the right and the far-right chose to surprise no one and lashed out against the strike. The PP and Vox have felt attacked by the protest; they are bothered by the demands for decent living conditions and have accused the unions of having called the strike against the opposition. They manipulate the facts in this way, because the general strike was born from the movement of tenants' unions, which was very critical of the PSOE's housing policies, and it was later that CCOO and UGT joined it. This is the electoral pack: they discredit the protests once again and take the opportunity to campaign against the socialists. "Citizens are adults enough to assess what interests lie behind the strike", said the President of the Government on Tuesday, Marga Prohens, in Parliament, as if she were the reincarnation of ideological purity, with no interests at stake. "It would be unusual for them to be against the parties that have not had the capacity to govern in recent years in the State," said the PP spokesperson, Sebastià Sagreras, a few days ago, even though the strike call did not revolve around his party. Not having a place to live or knowing how one will make it to the end of the month is perhaps more important than taking into account the feelings of the PP, which plays the victim ahead of time in case things do not go as they would like on November 29th.

Alongside the euphoria is the PSIB-PSOE, ready to lead a call that questions the recent years in which speculation has roamed freely on the plots of the Islands and the State without anyone putting a stop to it. The socialists have tried to appropriate the strike without shame, as if the housing problem had nothing to do with them after eight years of state government and two legislatures in the Balearic Islands. Even the Spanish king emeritus was able to pretend that he felt sorry when he murdered a poor elephant that happened to be passing by. Of course, the king was just a commission agent with pedigree and did not know that politicians run forward no matter what happens. “On November 11th we are betting on having a decent life, decent housing,” said the PSIB spokesperson, Iago Negueruela, on social media. The socialist officials announced that they will go on strike and that they will donate their salary from November 11th to a social entity. Of course, what is the point of donating a few euros if it is not made public?

Vox alert: posters in Arabic have been seen

As good citizens of honor and glory, those from Vox dedicated themselves to praising the terrible struggle of the self-employed to continue working on a strike day. According to the unbridled spokesperson of the far-right, Manuela Cañadas, the task of the unions was to point out, insult, threaten, coerce and I don't know how many more verbs, those good men and women who have decided to lift the shutters of their businesses. “Giving lessons from a hyper-subsidized union structure is very easy,” she said in a press conference, in addition to proclaiming that Vox will defend the freedom of these people in the face of blackmail. “Any aggression must receive an immediate response,” she added. And then the most dramatic moment of her appearance arrived, because Vox had discovered something terrible, dramatic, apocalyptic: “We have learned of the distribution in Palma of UGT posters in Arabic calling for this strike”. That was all that was missing to confirm that the protest was completely illegitimate.

Cañadas also reported the presence of picket members who were walking with their faces covered by balaclavas. It is curious, because on Tuesday, thanks to the support of the PP, Vox managed to push forward a bill to fine and expel from the country Muslim women who wear burqas or niqabs. It would have been easy for them to include balaclavas. And the face coverings that the far-right tough guys use above all in their street actions. One only needs to see the photos that the muscular members of Núcleo Nacional habitually take of themselves to verify this. “We find it much more insecure to run into these people on the street than a woman in a niqab,” socialist deputy Teresa Suárez retorted. It was also of no use to explain to her that fining women who are subjected to sexism and forced to cover themselves might be counterproductive. Perhaps it is not crazy to think that the wrong person is being punished. But Cañadas is a woman of firm principles, of those who do not budge even a millimeter. Like the PP deputy Cristina Gil, who supported Vox's initiative, confident in freeing women from their “fabric prison.” A campaign will have to be launched to also free the fascists, so they can walk face to the sun down the street.