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| DATE | 2021-05-06 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] Mandates for COVID-19 defeated at the poles for
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wsj.com
Opinion | Madrid Votes for Freedom
The Editorial Board
4-5 minutes
Isabel Díaz Ayuso wins the elections of the Community of Madrid as a
candidate of the Popular Party (PP) in Madrid, May 4.
Photo: Juan Carlos Rojas/Zuma Press
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A conservative victory in Spain’s Madrid capital region Tuesday offers a
simple lesson for democratic politicians everywhere: People like freedom.
The center-right Popular Party won 45% of the vote in this week’s
regional election, doubling its 2019 showing and winning more than the
three leftist parties combined. PP will rely on the conservative Vox
party, which earned support from 9% of voters, for a majority in the
regional assembly. The result is an unambiguous victory for the Spanish
right—and for a more reasonable approach to Covid-19.
The main credit goes to Isabel Díaz Ayuso, Madrid’s regional president.
The 42-year-old is charismatic and has outshone her party’s national
leader when criticizing Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
Tuesday’s result is largely a result of her pandemic policy.
“Freedom” was her campaign theme. Ms. Díaz Ayuso bucked most of the
Western world by keeping Madrid’s bars, restaurants and shops largely
open since last summer. The policy wasn’t perfect: While in Spain last
month, we were required to walk through uncrowded streets with a mask
on—and permitted to remove the covering once seated inside a full
restaurant. But it wasn’t a draconian lockdown.
Infections have climbed in recent weeks, but locked-down Paris has
suffered too. And voters made clear that higher Covid-19 risk was
preferable to destroying Madrid’s economy. Earlier this year, its bars
and restaurants provided more jobs than Andalusia and Catalonia for the
first time, according to an industry group. Expect the capital region to
outgrow the rest of Spain this year.
The result has national implications for one of Europe’s biggest
economies. Regional governments retain significant power in Spain, and
others could call snap elections. The outcome in Madrid is also an
embarrassment for Spain’s leftist national coalition, which hasn’t
expanded its appeal since cobbling together a minority government after
the 2019 election.
Ms. Díaz Ayuso deserves special praise for ending the political career
of Pablo Iglesias, the Spanish Bernie Sanders. He resigned as deputy
prime minister to run in Madrid—“Spain owes me one,” Ms. Díaz Ayuso said
at the time—and he finished fifth. Mr. Iglesias now says he’s leaving
politics.
Perhaps Covid-19 will fade as a political issue in the coming months.
But it’s heartening to see free people support the principle of living
their lives and assessing risk as they see fit.
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WSJ Opinion: Corporate America’s ‘Big Lie’
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Potomac Watch: CEOs denounce Georgia’s election law, but have they read
it? Images: Zuma Press/Getty Images Composite: Mark Kelly
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