Sánchez and hunger: the remark splitting Spain

Hunger as an excuse: the Sánchez remark dividing Spain

Pedro Sánchez's remark that hunger justifies anything in order to eat has sparked a debate that goes far beyond a passing anecdote. In a country with pockets of persistent poverty, the statement is read either as a provocation or as blunt realism about the limits of the law. The reaction was swift.

From demagoguery to real need

Some interpret the Spanish prime minister's words as a simple defence of the survival instinct: nobody should starve to death if they have a piece of bread at hand, legal or not. But a more sceptical camp recalls that the "anything goes" discourse has historically been the prelude to irresponsible policies. If hunger justifies anything, what stops it from justifying looting, violence or institutional collapse?

The allusion to Ceuta is no small matter. While the debate rages over whether hunger excuses climbing the border fence, the migrants who arrive already face that dilemma every day. The prime minister, some say, turns an individual tragedy into a textbook argument.

The shadow of Ceausescu

Ceausescu's regime — which ruled Romania from 1965 under an austerity so fierce that the population went hungry while the elite wallowed in luxury — resurfaces as a warning. Not because of the personal parallel, which is as unfair as it is exaggerated, but because it illustrates where a people's hunger ends when those in power use it as an excuse: neither hunger nor profit.

History rarely judges kindly the leaders who turn need into an alibi. And neither does the present.