All the presidents of the government made a mistake that lasted a minute, but it made them lose social respect and ruined their presidency. Suárez, when he vacationed with a financier of dubious fame and provoked a report from Interviú: "This is Suárez's friend." González, when the Filesa scandal broke out: "I found out from the press." Aznar, when he chose El Escorial to marry his daughter. Zapatero, when he refused to accept the word "crisis." Rajoy, when his message to Bárcenas was known: "Be strong, Luis."

Pedro Sánchez can still make that mistake. With almost two years of government ahead of him, six if he wins again, there are as many risks of blunder as there are days on the calendar. But he may have already committed it in the painful management of espionage, although we must recognize a prodigious capacity for recovery. When Núñez Feijóo calls him "disoriented" and accuses him of having surrendered to the blackmail of the independentistas, he is saying something that a large number of Spaniards think, not necessarily voters of the Popular Party.

The management of the crisis was characterized by fledgling strategies and maneuvers that seemed intended to deceive society. The most notable has been the spread of the intrusion into the phones of the president and the defense minister, discovered, oh wonder, the day before, as if a divine revelation had come to the aid of the helpless government. There was no such miracle. There was a crude attempt to fabricate an excuse to dismiss the director of the CNI. It ended up being confirmed by the president himself: there was a security breach in official communications.

This justified the cessation, but it opened other cracks: Paz Esteban could not be relieved for listening to independentistas, although one of the spied on was Pere Aragonès. It is very difficult for this to be recognized in much of Catalonia, but someone who complies with the law cannot be fired, and Mrs. Esteban complied from the moment she requested and obtained judicial approval. Therefore, if she is dismissed (“replaced”) due to the failures that the president said, she continues without satisfying the Catalan demand for heads. Pere Aragonès was emphatic: “Nobody should consider the crisis resolved”.

The clumsiness was more invasive. Whoever leaked to the friendly newspaper that there were 18 people spied on was wrong, with which he crushed the information about Paz Esteban in Congress. An image of absolute lack of control was transmitted, to the point of ignoring who the security of the power telephones depends on. He exposed the defenselessness of the Government and the State. The image of the CNI deteriorated. It seemed, in effect, that it is governed under pressure from those who do not seek the solidity of the State. The first result is the Metroscopia survey that sends home the two ministers involved: Robles, the most valued member of the Cabinet, and Bolaños, who is the emerging value. The second will be seen when asked directly about Pedro Sánchez. For now, he takes refuge in a defense based on attack, a bad sign, and is about to agree with Feijóo by entrusting himself to what comes out of the meeting with Pere Aragonès.

PATCHWORK

Climate The tension has come, we already know how it has been: when power cannot explain itself, it disqualifies whoever asks it. The brawl is mounted and the division explodes. The CIS says that 90% of citizens are fed up with this policy. But they give him three cups.

Abortion The governments reject the initiatives of the opposition with an argument: “There is no social demand”. I don't know what social demand Irene Montero must have seen for a 16-year-old girl to have an abortion without parental permission. Perhaps it is a political demand: to divert attention from espionage.

Bolaños The minister complained that the deputies are only interested in the “immediate” urgency and not in how much and how well his government does it. Perhaps it was a request for excuses: he was the one who most promoted the "immediate" news.

Díaz It was Romanones who said: "Fuck, what a troop." There is no record of the second vice president swearing. But the "troop" thing when she looks at the possible components of her famous "space" can be guessed even in the way she looks.

Ladies Irene Montero has to visit the Bank of Spain building in Madrid. It will be illustrative for you to see that the old toilets are marked as follows: on one side, “Gentlemen”; to the other, “Ladies”. There was a time when "ladies" could not work in that building. When they got married, they lost their jobs.