Spain's cultural war is over: the right finally wants competent government

Manuel Marín's column in Vozpópuli argues that those who for years criticized Mariano Rajoy and Fátima Báñez for their technical, grey profile are now calling for a government of managers. The shift reveals a contradiction: the same right that demanded a cultural war is now asking for administrative efficiency.

Manuel Marín signs an article in **Vozpópuli**, published on **2 November 2026**, in which he notes a change of discourse on the Spanish right. The piece, titled «Menos mal, se acabó la guerra cultural… Por fin queremos gestión» (Thank goodness the cultural war is over... at last we want management), argues that the very people who for years scorned the technical profile of the PP's governments now demand an executive of managers. The central thesis is that this U-turn stems not from ideological reflection but from the realization that the state administration has stopped working.

## The criticism now turned against those who made it

Marín recalls that during **Mariano Rajoy**'s governments, part of Spain's sociological right reproached the PP for giving up the battle of ideas. The former prime minister was accused of surrounding himself with «hombrecillos oscuros de traje gris marengo» (shadowy little men in grey suits), of failing to fight the left and of pursuing a low-profile politics. The article expressly cites **Fátima Báñez**, Minister of Labour between 2011 and 2018, as an example of a straightforward, effective administrator who was torn apart for being soft and technocratic.

The author underlines the paradox: those who then demanded narrative, confrontation and cultural war are the ones now calling for management, management and more management. The same right that lamented that its governments could not master «the public conversation» now demands an army of technical profiles. Marín sums it up with a question he leaves hanging: what is needed, an ideological leader or a manager whose trains are not allowed to derail.

The article frames this shift within a broader weariness. It argues that sanchismo (Sánchez's political movement) has spent more than eight years building fictional narratives, cooking the public accounts and hijacking the administration. These are the author's opinions, not verified facts, and should be read as such.

## A state collecting record revenue that does not work

The text insists on a specific economic contradiction: Spain has digitalized everything and nothing works, with slow bureaucracy, an investment deficit and decaying infrastructure, while the state records record tax revenues. Marín repeatedly asks what has been done with taxpayers' money and where it is. It is a rhetorical question the article does not answer with figures, but one it places at the centre of the discontent.

The author describes an oversized administration, with civil servants ever less effective and slower, and a class that, in his view, has covered up abuses for years. Against that, he notes that nobody is happy: not students, not teachers, not police officers, not unions, not young people without housing, not railway workers, not livestock farmers, not farmers, not hauliers, not the military. The list serves to show that discontent cuts across very different sectors.

Marín cites the case of the victims of the rail accident in **Adamuz**, with **69 people killed**, to argue that the problem is no longer political disaffection but an emotionally desolate country. The article also mentions the **Toledo** accident and the tragedy of **Urda** as examples of management that, in his view, has failed. These are references from the text itself, with no further development.

## 29-N and the promise of a government of managers

The article places the **29 November** election as the moment when it will be decided whether there is a turn towards a right-wing government. Marín warns that, if the PP governs, an executive of managers has been promised, and anticipates that the new ministers will soon be called technocrats and grey politicians. The warning is that the whiny right of café terraces will once again complain that technicians were not voted in to manage but to be attack dogs against the left.

The author describes a fractured and radicalized country, and gives two examples that occurred **48 hours apart**: in **Bilbao**, teenagers shouting pro-ETA slogans without knowing what ETA was; in **Madrid**, Falange flags outside the Ministry of Transport. Marín argues that this success of division is what has allowed Sánchez to govern with hypocrisy as his banner, doing the opposite of what he promised on the campaign trail.

The text closes with a demand: Spain needs more engineers, builders, architects, chemists, doctors and jurists, and fewer smoke sellers. Marín's conclusion is that the era of vengeful little games and visceral hatreds is ending, and that demanding managers is not an ideological betrayal but a necessity. The article offers no data of its own on the state of the economy or the public accounts; its claims are the author's assessments.

## Key points

- The article by **Manuel Marín** was published in **Vozpópuli** on **2 November 2026**.
- **Fátima Báñez** was Minister of Labour between **2011 and 2018**, and the text cites her as an example of a manager scorned for being technical.
- The author cites **69 deaths** in the rail accident in **Adamuz**.
- Marín places the **29 November** election as the vote that will decide whether there is a government of managers.
- The text mentions two episodes **48 hours apart**: pro-ETA slogans in **Bilbao** and Falange flags in **Madrid**.