Irene Montero: Is the hatred against her induced or deserved?

The hatred against Montero: between the villa and the manipulation theory

Political hatred does not come out of nowhere. In the case of Irene Montero, polarization reaches levels of visceralness that few politicians provoke. A recent thread portrays it without filters: some see her as a "parasite"; others argue that the rejection is induced by those in power to prevent the left from governing. In between, the now famous villa worth more than a million euros, bought for 650,000 with a loan from the engineers' fund.

The villa that fuels the storm
The purchase of the villa by the Montero-Errejón couple (or Montero-Iglesias, depending on how you look at it) remains a black hole that absorbs criticism. The property, valued at more than a million, would have been paid for at 650,000 thanks to a loan from the engineers' fund. For detractors, it is proof that the minister lives in a bubble while preaching austerity. For her defenders, it is a perfectly legal real estate operation, and the scandal is a smoke screen to cover up the commissions of the Ayuso family or Feijóo's contracts.

The induced hatred thesis
A current of the debate holds that the hatred is not spontaneous but manufactured. The argument: the media and political "establishment" demonizes Montero so that the left does not reach power and the system of "backroom dealings" is maintained. According to this theory, the animosity against her villa is inversely proportional to the tolerance for the embezzlements of other parties. How much truth is there? It is difficult to measure induced emotions, but the correlation between the intensity of hatred and the electoral proximity of Montero's party is striking.

Amid so much noise, one thing is certain: Montero does not leave anyone indifferent, and hatred, whether induced or genuine, feeds on itself. What does not add up is that, if she were really so dreadful, she would need a propaganda apparatus for us to hate her.