Sánchez backs down and will skip the eclipse after Falcon jet row

Sánchez cancels his plan to watch the eclipse after the Falcon jet row

Pedro Sánchez will not be watching the eclipse. Spain's prime minister has backed down on his plan to travel to view the astronomical event, after the use of the official Falcon jet for an event lasting just a few minutes clashed head-on with his climate emergency rhetoric. The cancellation, however, has not put an end to the controversy: the damage to his image had already been done.

A plane for a few minutes of shadow

The contradiction was all too visible. While the government boasts of its green agenda, the image of a president flying on the Falcon jet even for a short eclipse fuels criticism of the double standard. On social media and in economic commentary, many have pointed to the opportunity cost of such a gesture: the fuel burned, the carbon footprint and the message it sends about the austerity demanded of ordinary citizens. Sánchez's climbdown does not solve the underlying problem: the use of the official plane for astronomical whims should have been ruled out in the first place.

The suspicion of an involuntary sacrifice

Not everyone buys the version that the president changed his mind of his own accord. A theory has circulated that Sánchez's "bosses" had not invited him to the event, suggesting the decision may have more to do with an organisational consequence than an ethical U-turn. This reading, though a minority one, adds uncertainty about the real motive: was it social pressure or internal management that left the president without his eclipse?

It remains to be seen whether this U-turn will be an isolated gesture or the start of a deep review of Falcon jet travel. If the political price of this eclipse has been high, the cost of repeating the move would be intolerable. In the end, it is not the star that is hidden, but the politician hiding behind his own contradiction.