Banning Spain's PSOE: the debate Spain's party law can't settle

Banning the PSOE: the shortcut nobody dares to take seriously

Spain's Political Parties Law was born with a very specific goal: outlawing ETA and its network. Three decades later, some want to apply it to the country's main left-wing party. The argument would sound like a wild idea if the mere possibility were not already embedded in public debate.

Some voices argue that banning the PSOE would be the only way to stop the current political cycle. Others, more moderate, qualify that there would be no need to ban the whole party, but rather to apply the law to formations they consider "anti-Spanish" or separatist. That is where the complexity arises: the law requires proving a connection to violence or a breach of the constitutional order, and that is not something you can improvise.

The most repeated objection, however, is practical: if the PSOE is banned, what stops it from reappearing tomorrow under another name with the same structure? Recent history is full of rebrandings that changed nothing. That is why part of the analysis prefers to go further: banning all political parties, starting with the current ones.

Meanwhile, the background noise includes calls to burn party offices and slogans with a revolutionary look. These are outbursts that do not help serious debate, but they reveal a discontent with the party system that goes beyond any single party.

The awkward question is: if an inconvenient party can be banned by decree, who guarantees the measure will not be used against the next one? In a democracy, the antidote to bad government is usually more democracy, not less.