Cashier turned lawmaker: the fight over who makes laws in Spain

The cashier who legislates to release rapists reopens the question of who can make laws in Spain

The idea that a cashier with a parliamentary seat can push laws affecting the freedom of prisoners sounds like the currency of an exhausted regime. The controversy has found a voice among Spanish economic analysts, and it is no isolated outburst: it is the spearhead of a deeper critique of the political recruitment model.

What is known as the Régimen del 78 (the post-1978 political order) concentrates the discontent. Critics point out that anyone, without legal training or experience, can hold positions from which incivil reforms are designed. At the same time, people recall a former prime minister's claim that «anyone can be president» to underline the trivialisation of power. Some defend it as democracy in its purest form: any citizen can stand and be voted in. But among critics, the prevailing perception is that the lack of expertise turns legislation into trial and error with serious consequences.

The discontent does not stop at incivil matters. There is also rejection of the 2030 Agenda and of the burdens borne by small businesses, as if the same system that allows anyone to legislate ignored the real conditions of the productive economy. The irony of Disneyland, where dreams come true, serves here as a counterexample: it is more like nightmares coming true.

The question left hanging is uncomfortable: if governing is a craft that requires training, where do you learn it? And if democracy allows any citizen to legislate, are we willing to bear the cost of a mistake with real names attached? The regime has yet to provide an answer.