Montero keeps her European Parliament seat while running in Spain's general election

Montero keeps Brussels while trying her luck in Madrid

Irene Montero is not giving up her seat in the European Parliament while at the same time running in Spain's general election. It is the move that has triggered distrust in the debate: drawing a Brussels salary while fighting for a seat in Madrid is, for many participants, the exact definition of not letting go of one vine until you have grabbed another. The news comes in the middle of Podemos' operation to erase its brand from the ballot and leave all the spotlight to its leader, according to the thread.

The EU salary as a safety net

The financial reading carries the most weight in the discussion. A seat in the European Parliament, participants say, not only pays better than the Spanish Congress: it also offers allowances, supplements and an expense structure that does not exist in Madrid. Some estimate that base salary, allowances and supplements add up to a monthly figure in the range of 20,000 to 30,000 euros, and that calculation is what explains, for some, why nobody leaves that seat voluntarily.

The argument circulating is pure incentive logic: if the Strasbourg and Brussels post is secured, running in the general election is a risk-free option. If it goes well, you change chairs; if it goes badly, you keep the European one. The open question is whether that design is legitimate or simply comfortable.

The couple's precedent and the public cushion

The parallel with her partner is inevitable in the thread. Users recall that he left the vice-presidency of the Spanish Government to run in the Madrid regional election, and the result did not go his way. Since then, his career has been, according to some participants, a search for a comfortable position in public bodies, a pattern some see repeating itself now under a different name and title.

The harshest criticism points out that neither the private sector nor the third sector has an open door for certain profiles, and that this is why politics becomes the only professional refuge. It is an accusation without proof, but it circulates with force.

The paradox of the party that promised everyone a say

The ideological contrast is the other major front. A party born out of the claim that its lists and programme were decided by the grassroots now appears, according to the thread's criticism, with a candidate who monopolises the spotlight and a rhetorical cap of three minimum wages as the promised salary ceiling. The irony writes itself.

The question left hanging is whether that salary austerity promise holds up when the post being kept is precisely the best paid in the structure. As of this discussion, the answer has not been given.

What may happen to the European seat

A European seat is not forever. Sooner or later it has to be renewed or given up, and that opens the scenario many anticipate: if the national gamble fails, a return to civilian life will be the only way out. The hedged prediction is clear: as long as there is a ballot, there will be a chair.