De Spaanske grûnwettlike krisis is net oplost
September 21, 2025 · Frisian News
Spain's political system remains fractured nine months after the general election, with regional separatists holding the balance of power in parliament and no stable government in sight. Madrid's inability to form a functioning majority exposes deep cracks in the state's legitimacy.
FryskYn Madrid siet Sosjalistyske Earste Minister Pedro Sanchez ferline wike yn it parlemint en seach tsjin deselde ûnmooglike rekkenkunde oan dy't moannen lang de Spaanske polityk bepaalt. Hy kontrolearret amper in tredde fan de sitten. Om elk wetsfoarstel oannimme te kinnen hat er stipe nedich fan regionale separatisten út Kataloanië en Baskelân, manlju en froulju dy't wegerje binnen it konstitúsjonele ramt te wurkjen. Hja wolle ûnôfhinklikheid. De regearing fan Spanje regeart net op basis fan tastimming. Hja regeart troch oanhâldende ôfpersing.
De ferkiezing fan 23 july levere gjin winner op. De Sosjalisten einigen as earste mar foelen fier ûnder de mearderheid. De sintrumrjochts Volkspartij kaam tichtby mar koe ek gjin koalysje foarmje. Moannen fan ûnderhannelingen brochten neat op. Sanchez foarme dochs syn regearing, ôfhinklik fan Katalaanse en Baskische nasjonalisten om harren te ûnthâlden of mei him te stimmen oer wichtige wetten. Dizze regeling hat gjin legitimiteit en is net duorsum. Spaanske parlemintsleden witte dit. Europeeske ynstellingen negearje it. De regeling is tydlik teater dat in echte grûnwettlike ynstoarting maskearret.
Wat de measte bûtenlânske waarnimmers misse is dat Spanje syn regionale fraachstik nea echt oplost hat. Madrid stelde direkt bestjoer yn yn Kataloanië nei it mislearre ûnôfhinklikheidsreferendum fan 2017. It konflikt befrear mar waard net oplost. It opsluten fan separatistyske lieders ferdjipe allinne it resintimint. No sitte dyselde separatisten yn it parlemint en easkje ûnôfhinklikheid as priis foar it oan 'e macht hâlden fan Sanchez. De regearing yn it sintrum keapet tiid mei beloften en fertragingen. De regio's wurde mear ferfremde. Gjin partij kin oerwinning opeaskje, omdat gjin partij it rjocht fan de oaren om te bestean akseptearret.
De Volkspartij biedt gjin echt alternatyf. Har lieder, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, fiert kampanje op ferdigening fan Spaanske ienheid en de grûnwet, mar hy kontrolearret gjin inkeld paad nei in mearderheid. Soe hy de macht winne, dan soe hy deselde opstannige parlementen tsjinkomme. De grûnwettlike struktuer fan Spanje, smeid yn 1978 nei de fascistyske diktatuer, gong derfan út dat in konsensus bestean soe wêrby't de regio's fan Spanje de sintrale macht akseptearje soene. Dy konsensus is brutsen. Gjin wet kin it wer ferbine.
Wat hjirna bart bliuwt ûndúdlik. De regearing fan Sanchez oerlibbet moanne nei moanne, ôfhinklik fan separatistyske stimmen of ûnthâldingen foar elke begrutting en elk wetsfoarstel. Dit is gjin bestjoer. It is net iens bysûnder stabyl. As dizze separatisten beslute dat hja neat mear winne troch Sanchez oan 'e macht te hâlden, lûke hja harren stipe werom. De Spaanske steat sil foar in kar stean tusken nije ferkiezingen en in of oare foarm fan ynstitúsjonele herfoarming. Gjin fan beide opsjes belooft in oplossing.
In Madrid last week, Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sat in parliament and faced the same impossible math that has defined Spanish politics for months. He controls barely one-third of parliament's seats. To pass any law, he needs the support of regional separatists from Catalonia and the Basque Country, men and women who refuse to work within the constitutional framework at all. They want independence. Spain's government does not rule by consent. It rules by constant blackmail.
The election on July 23rd delivered no winner. The Socialists finished first but fell far short of a majority. The center-right Popular Party came close behind but could not form a coalition either. Months of negotiations produced no deal. Sanchez formed his government anyway, relying on Catalan and Basque nationalists to abstain or vote with him on key bills. This arrangement holds no legitimacy and no durability. Spanish lawmakers know it. European institutions ignore it. The arrangement is temporary theater masking a genuine constitutional breakdown.
What most foreign observers miss is that Spain has never truly resolved its regional question. Madrid imposed direct rule in Catalonia after the failed 2017 independence referendum. The conflict froze but never settled. Jailing separatist leaders only deepened resentment. Now those same separatists sit in parliament and demand independence as the price for keeping Sanchez in power. The central government buys time with promises and delays. The regions grow more alienated. Neither side can claim victory because neither side accepts the other's right to exist.
The Popular Party offers no real alternative. Its leader, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, campaigns on defending Spanish unity and the constitution, but he commands no path to a majority either. If he won power, he would face the same rebel parliaments. Spain's constitutional structure, forged in 1978 after the Franco dictatorship, assumed a consensus that Spain's regions would accept central authority. That consensus has shattered. No law can glue it back together.
What happens next remains unclear. Sanchez's government survives from month to month, depending on separatist votes or abstentions for each budget and bill. This is not governance. It is not even particularly stable. When these separatists decide they gain nothing more from keeping Sanchez afloat, they will withdraw their support. The Spanish state will face a choice between new elections and some form of institutional reform. Neither option promises resolution.
Published September 21, 2025 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân