Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is planning to attend a
wedding Friday, but it's not just any wedding -- it's the marriage of two men.
This is news in 2015 because Rajoy has consistently opposed the recognition of
same-sex marriage, which became legal in Spain 10 years ago.
Cue accusations
of hypocrisy and a debate about loyalty to friends over political principles --
all of this occurring with national elections 12 weeks away.
The wedding is
in Vitoria, in the Basque country, between Rajoy political ally Javier Maroto
and his partner Josema Rodriguez. Maroto is a senior official of the governing
Popular Party, or PP, which Rajoy leads. Not only has Rajoy said he plans to
attend; a PP colleague has disclosed he's an official witness of the marriage.
"Will he,
won't he go?" has taken up acres of Spanish media coverage and spawned a
new hashtag on Twitter: #laBodaDeMaroto (the marriage of Maroto). While it's
unlikely to dominate the election campaign, the event has led to dissent
between the conservative and more centrist factions of Rajoy's party. It may
also be politically awkward since the party's base is among the older and (by
and large) more conservative Spaniards.
El Mundo, one of
Spain's leading dailies, said Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Diaz has warned
Rajoy that attending Maroto's nuptials would contradict the Popular Party's
record. Diaz said pointedly he did not receive an invitation. But other party
figures did. Andrea Levy -- a rising star -- said she is going and plans to
enjoy the occasion.
The opposition
Socialist Party is enjoying the Prime Minister's discomfort, congratulating
Maroto on his wedding and expressing pride that the law it passed a decade ago
should have brought happiness to so many people. Twisting the knife, party
spokesman Angeles Alvarez tweeted that Rajoy is planning to celebrate in
private what he persecutes in public.
Senior figures
in the Popular Party have tried to play down the issue. Esperanza Aguirre, who
leads the PP on the Madrid City Council, said the party is not a sect and
there's room for differing views. As for Maroto, he said he'll understand if
the Prime Minister does not attend because "he's busy with the regional elections
in Catalonia."
In an effort to
limit the political fallout, Maroto said that while his party does oppose
same-sex marriage, it supports the rights and obligations of such unions and it
hasn't tried to reverse the law in the current parliament. He said his
relationship with the Prime Minister will not be affected whether the leader
attends or not, and he doesn't want "a private event to become a media
circus."
Same-sex marriage called 'poke in the eye' to
Catholics
In 2005, Spain became at that time the
third country in Europe to recognize same-sex marriage.Rajoy protested in parliament on the day the Socialists, then in the
majority, passed the law.
Since then, he
has continued to insist that marriage must be between a man and a woman -- and
that same-sex couples should be content with civil unions. As leader of the
opposition, Rajoy and others in the Popular Party challenged the law in Spain's
Constitutional Court, saying that it "perverts the basic institution of
marriage." Rajoy also said that allowing same-sex marriage (as opposed to
civil unions) was a "poke in the eye" to Catholics.
In an 8-3 vote,
the court eventually rejected the appeal. In a ruling in 2012, the court recognized
that in same-sex marriage "a
step forward is being made towards guaranteed personal dignity and the free
development of one's personality."
"In Spain
there is broad social acceptance of marriage between same-sex couples,"
the court added -- citing opinion polls that support same-sex marriage.
But before the
last election, many same-sex couples in Spain feared that Rajoy would try to
reverse the law if his Popular Party won. Some hastened to tie the knot, which
made the village of Campillo de Ranas north of Madrid -- (population 184 in the
last census) -- a busy place. Its mayor had come up with a novel way of
battling Spain's crippling recession: welcoming same-sex couples to wed.
The importance of social issues to
Rajoy's supporters
Maroto's wedding has briefly diverted
attention from the other main issues of Spain's upcoming election: the economy
and Europe's refugee crisis.
Rajoy -- who has
taken a hard line on migration -- eventually agreed to the European
Commission's request that Spain take some 17,000 of the current tide of
refugees entering Europe. Some cities led by left-wing parties have taken the
initiative on providing shelter and support to refugees.
The Prime
Minister has focused on economic recovery as the main achievement of the
Popular Party's five years in power. Spanish banks have been rescued,
unemployment has fallen and Spain enjoys (at 3.1%) one of the highest rates of
growth in the European Union. Some 500,000 jobs were created in 2014, although
youth unemployment remains stubbornly high.
But social
issues remain important to a significant faction of Popular Party supporters
and politicians. After abandoning a proposal to ban abortion on demand, the
government recently pushed through a measure forbidding minors from having an
abortion without parental consent. Even so, several of the party's senators
voted against the measure as inadequate.
Opinion polls
suggest no party will gain an overall majority in December's elections, as two
new groups -- Ciudadanos and Podemos -- threaten to take votes from the Popular
Party and Socialists, respectively. Podemos is an insurgent left-wing party
similar to Syriza in
Greece; Ciudadanos is a centrist pro-business party.
There is also
the wild card of Catalonia, where
parties promising a path to independence and those content with autonomy do
battle in regional elections at the end of September. If the pro-independence
parties secure a majority of votes, they plan an 18-month transition to
secession from Spain.
Antonio Roldan
Mones of risk consultancy Eurasia Group expects that in the national elections
at least three parties will be needed to form a viable coalition, with the
Popular Party likely to emerge the largest on the strength of its economic
record. It may also benefit -- after the Catalan elections -- from being seen
as the best guarantor of Spain's unity.
But in any
event, he expects forming a new government "will be very difficult"
and a new constitutional amendment may be needed to decentralize power further
-- in education, language rights and finance -- to meet Catalan demands.
In Vitoria,
Maroto may just be looking forward to Saturday and married life. He told the
Spanish radio station COPE he hopes that one day weddings such as his will not
be big news -- and that everyone will accept them as normal.
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