Iglesias and Delgado clash on TVE over Palestine as Spain's left fractures

The left breaks apart live on air: Iglesias against Delgado over Palestine

What is left of the space to the left of Spain's PSOE when its two most visible figures clash on television over who defends Palestine better while Spain buys weapons from Israel? That is what peine on TVE between Pablo Iglesias and Emilio Delgado, of Más Madrid, according to the footage that has ignited the debate: Delgado claimed that "Spain has the most advanced position in the defence of Palestine" and the former deputy prime minister replied that saying so "while buying weapons from Israel calls for self-criticism", adding that the European Parliament has come down on the protesters.

The scene has its substance. Two parties competing for the same electorate, a public TV studio and an issue —the Middle East— that, according to the general mood, is not among Spaniards' top two concerns. The fight is not about Gaza; it is about who gets the lifeboat as the left's ship takes on water.

Who is the enemy: the right, or the one next to you

The most common reaction is that the left is shooting itself. Some argue that Iglesias hands out badges of true leftism and that, on this course, the right wins by exhaustion. The polls, they say, already show it. On the other side, the former deputy prime minister's defence rests on an uncomfortable fact: if Spain boasts an advanced position on Palestine while buying weapons from Israel, something does not add up.

The political calculus is another matter. The space to the left of the PSOE has fragmented into irrelevance and every party is looking for its niche. Some believe that running together across Spain would yield the same dismal result as running apart; others, that the self-destruction is deliberate, to concentrate the vote. Nobody provides the arithmetic to prove it.

Palestine as a smokescreen for kitchen-table economics

The most widespread criticism is not ideological, it is about the agenda. People ask why two politicians are debating the Middle East when voters are focused on food prices, pay slips and mortgages. The criticism extends to TVE itself and its panel shows, driven by ratings.

At the same time, the affair serves to test consistency: the military contracts with Israel signed during the term when Iglesias was deputy prime minister and his daughter a minister are mentioned. These are claims circulating in the conversation which, if confirmed, would turn the self-criticism into wet paper. If confirmed.

The lifeboat and the dilemma of governing

Here comes the deeper debate, the one that really matters economically: is it better for the left to govern so the country gets vaccinated, or should it be thrown out now because every extra term spreads the institutional metastasis? One camp argues the damage to the economy and institutions is so great that four more years would be irreversible. Another warns that the coming austerity will be pinned on the incoming government and people will vote badly again.

The pattern repeats at every election: the promise that one more term of socialism will vaccinate the country. They said it with Zapatero. With González, too.

Meanwhile, the TVE brawl leaves a headline and no solution. Two one-armed men rowing in opposite directions, and the water rising. Someone will have to decide who keeps the lifeboat.