Ceuta protests in Spain: the patriotic wave that unsettles the left

Ceuta protests: the patriotic wave the left doesn't know how to handle

Streets across much of Spain filled with flags, but the political reading is not so simple. While some see a popular wave of patriotism and rejection of the Government, others watch how that same symbol has become a weapon to alienate a huge part of the citizenry. The demonstration over Ceuta left more than images: it exposed the gap between two ways of understanding the nation.

A patriotism that doesn't fit in one box

Those who took part in the rallies do not fit the profile of the marginal radical. There were older people and youngsters, men and women, people of all kinds. That observation, repeated across the analyses, dismantles the idea that the phenomenon is marginal. But there are also those who argue that this Spain of little flags and stale slogans is being used to alienate a huge part of the citizenry. In this reading, patriotism becomes an instrument of division.

The left, the long game and imported votes

The debate goes beyond the flag. Some argue that the left has given up on the traditional voter and is playing the long game: importing votes. The idea, stated without filters, holds that the left needs poverty as a breeding ground and that, lacking enough of it, it would have imported migrants. It is a controversial thesis circulating strongly in the analyses, but it has no empirical backing. On the other side, some argue that the right appropriates the defence of the nation while the left disowns its symbols. The trenches, as has been said, are already drawn.

The question remains in the air: can the flag still be a symbol for everyone? With the trenches marked and the official narrative in doubt, the answer seems increasingly difficult.