What a drag: Gabriel Albiac on Spain's 2026 election dilemma

In El Debate, Gabriel Albiac publishes an article describing his weariness ahead of the 29 November 2026 election, which he says forces voters to choose between useless candidates and incivil already tried or facing open court cases.

The writer and columnist **Gabriel Albiac** signs a piece in **El Debate** dated **12 October 2026** in which he looks ahead to the general election of **29 November 2026** with a tone of disgust. The article is titled "What a drag…!" and opens with a confession: every time he has been called to vote, he says, the same sticky feeling has come over him, along with the urge to take refuge in a library. It is not a new stance, but this time, he argues, it is worse.

## The thesis: from choosing between fools and the wicked to choosing between nobodies and incivil

Albiac argues that the electoral dilemma has changed in nature. In the past, he writes, it was a matter of choosing between "fools and the wicked". Now, he says, the choice is between "nobodies and incivil". And he specifies: incivil already tried and in some cases convicted, and incivil with open court proceedings at various stages from standing trial.

The author does not name those incivil, but he does name some he considers nobodies. He mentions **Patxi López** and **Rufián** as examples of what, in his view, would be parliamentary eminences with no use or value outside their seats. He wonders what they would live on, what those around them would think of them, if they did not hold a seat in Congress. His conclusion is that professional politics in Spain attracts people who know they are incapable of making a decent living from their work or their intelligence.

## Parliamentary immunity and the priority of removing protection from incivil

One of the ideas he repeats most clearly is that of aforamiento (the parliamentary immunity enjoyed by Spanish MPs). "I know – only an idiot wouldn't – that it is a priority to strip immunity from protected incivil so that they can finally, for once, appear before the judges. Like any ordinary citizen," he writes. The sentence sums up his position: immunity shields those under investigation from appearing before the ordinary courts, and that, in his view, must end.

The paradox that drives him to despair is this: voting for an idiot seems harsh to him, but he wonders whether it is decent not to do so in order to prevent a incivil from staying in office. He does not resolve the question. He says he is not sure he can overcome his disgust at paying a public salary to the nonentities who are his adversaries, and adds that not being sure is a categorical imperative. No one, he concludes, will come out of the polling booth pleased with themselves. Except the very ignorant or the very wicked.

## A campaign that, in his view, will be fought in 1934

Albiac claims that the election campaign preceding **29 November 2026** will be the most fraudulent he has ever lived through. His thesis is that it will divide voters into two mortally opposed camps, the same ones as almost a century ago. "We will vote on 29 November 2026. But we will be voting in 1934," he writes. The reference to **1934** is no accident: it alludes to the climate of political confrontation during the Spanish Second Republic, one year before the February 1936 election.

The author describes election campaigns, for as long as he has known them, as the greatest of farces and the cruellest of the many ways citizens are subjugated. But this one, he insists, goes too far. And it will prevail, he adds, as always.

## The library as refuge and the echo of Plato

The piece closes with an image that runs through the whole article: the library. Albiac confesses that the longing to live in a library from which everything unnecessary has been excluded tempts him and almost always wins. Not without unease, he clarifies. He asks whether a man can call himself a man without that anxiety about being wrong.

He quotes **Plato** to define evil as the way of life of the most stupid: those who do not even know they are stupid, those who contribute the worst while convinced they are prophets of the best. The library, in his account, is the place where there is no room for stupidity or for evil. And it ends with the same words as the title: "What a drag!".

## Key points

- **Gabriel Albiac** publishes "What a drag…!" in **El Debate** on **12 October 2026**.
- The article refers to the election of **29 November 2026**.
- Albiac describes the dilemma as a choice between "nobodies and incivil", with incivil already convicted in some cases and others facing open court proceedings.
- He mentions **Patxi López** and **Rufián** as examples of what he considers parliamentary nonentities.
- He argues for stripping immunity from protected incivil so they can appear before the judges like any other citizen.
- He places the election campaign in a climate he compares with **1934**.