Montero seeks votes to cut prices after 8 years in office
Irene Montero asks for votes promising lower prices for housing, energy and food after eight years in government. A poll cited puts her at 3%.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Montero asks for votes to lower housing prices after eight years in office
Why does the minister who has managed housing, energy and food for eight years now ask for votes promising low prices in those same areas? That is the thrust of the message Irene Montero launched in the midst of the pre-campaign: vote for Podemos to change "for real" the price of housing, food, energy and petrol. The arithmetic problem is obvious. Eight years in the Council of Ministers and the problem is still there.
The answer that dominates the analysis is that the promise comes late and without a portfolio. Podemos is playing for its institutional presence and the party leader is playing for something more prosaic: her parliamentary immunity. Some argue that the housing decree is the last bullet to scrape seats; against it weighs the fact that, without real options to govern, the promise is born without an instrument.
Why ask for votes now and not before?
Because the electoral calendar is pressing and the party is running out of ground. The most repeated reading is that eight years of inaction turn the promise into a campaign act, not a government plan. The message circulating is that the party is in a hurry not to be left out.
The detail that is repeated most is not economic, it is biographical. The minister entered politics from a job as a cashier and now, according to that reading, she does not want to be one again. The irony writes itself: the one promising low prices is the one who already has her home sorted.
The Galapagar chalet and the European salary
The wealth contrast is the most profitable argument in the discussion. The chalet in Galapagar bought with a public salary is remembered and compared with the housing she now promises to make cheaper for everyone else. The coherence of the message is measured in square metres, not in decrees.
At the same time, the question of salary arises. Montero entered the European Parliament in 2024, with a mandate until 2029, and some calculate that it is not worth it for her to swap Brussels for Madrid. The question left floating is whether the salary of a deputy is compatible with that of an MEP. No one clarifies it.
The polls that deflate the promise
The surveys handled in the conversation place Podemos around 3% and Alvise's party at 2%. With those numbers, the promise of low prices has no one to execute it. It is the harshest argument: to promise something you have to have some possibility of governing.
Even so, some grant the party a merit: having contaminated PSOE's discourse with its flags. The "podemisation" of Spanish politics would be its real victory, even if it disappears from the map.
With these ingredients, the useful vote becomes a nostalgic vote. And housing remains just as expensive.
Why does the minister who has managed housing, energy and food for eight years now ask for votes promising low prices in those same areas? That is the thrust of the message Irene Montero launched in the midst of the pre-campaign: vote for Podemos to change "for real" the price of housing, food, energy and petrol. The arithmetic problem is obvious. Eight years in the Council of Ministers and the problem is still there.
The answer that dominates the analysis is that the promise comes late and without a portfolio. Podemos is playing for its institutional presence and the party leader is playing for something more prosaic: her parliamentary immunity. Some argue that the housing decree is the last bullet to scrape seats; against it weighs the fact that, without real options to govern, the promise is born without an instrument.
Why ask for votes now and not before?
Because the electoral calendar is pressing and the party is running out of ground. The most repeated reading is that eight years of inaction turn the promise into a campaign act, not a government plan. The message circulating is that the party is in a hurry not to be left out.
The detail that is repeated most is not economic, it is biographical. The minister entered politics from a job as a cashier and now, according to that reading, she does not want to be one again. The irony writes itself: the one promising low prices is the one who already has her home sorted.
The Galapagar chalet and the European salary
The wealth contrast is the most profitable argument in the discussion. The chalet in Galapagar bought with a public salary is remembered and compared with the housing she now promises to make cheaper for everyone else. The coherence of the message is measured in square metres, not in decrees.
At the same time, the question of salary arises. Montero entered the European Parliament in 2024, with a mandate until 2029, and some calculate that it is not worth it for her to swap Brussels for Madrid. The question left floating is whether the salary of a deputy is compatible with that of an MEP. No one clarifies it.
The polls that deflate the promise
The surveys handled in the conversation place Podemos around 3% and Alvise's party at 2%. With those numbers, the promise of low prices has no one to execute it. It is the harshest argument: to promise something you have to have some possibility of governing.
Even so, some grant the party a merit: having contaminated PSOE's discourse with its flags. The "podemisation" of Spanish politics would be its real victory, even if it disappears from the map.
With these ingredients, the useful vote becomes a nostalgic vote. And housing remains just as expensive.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (53 replies).
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