Madrid’s Plaza Margaret Thatcher is a curious landmark for curious times

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/17/madrid-plaza-margaret-thatcher-square-spain

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Margaret Thatcher now ranks between Columbus and Goya. Not between the men and their achievements, but in between their namesakes in the Madrid street map. There, near Columbus Square, with it’s gigantic, Brobdingnagian Spanish flag and Goya Street, with its row of expensive fashion stores, now lies Plaza Margaret Thatcher, the only such tribute to the Iron Lady outside the UK.

And it’s not just any place, but one of the beating pulses of the Spanish capital. When it was inaugurated, on Monday, there was some controversy but certainly some pomp too. A personal message from David Cameron was read out. Mark Thatcher and the British ambassador were in attendance. Some references in the speeches must have raised British eyebrows, such as when the late prime minister was praised for “helping strengthen the European Union”. But it was a genuine show of admiration from the leading female figures of Spanish conservatism, who declared Thatcher to be their role model.

When a British colleague asked me if this reflects the popularity of Thatcherism among conservatives in Spain, I had to say: not really. In fact, I believe it tells us less about the similarities between British and Spanish brands of conservatism than about how different they are.

Spanish conservatism’s roots are firmly Catholic, which means that it contains both reactionary and socially minded tendencies. Although no longer overtly Francoist, the Spanish right hasn’t completely parted with its historical baggage for good, often for family reasons – political views in Spain are strongly hereditary. Some leaders within the Partido Popular, the ruling rightwing party, have tried to give it a neoliberal or neocon twist, but without much success.

Spain might have given the world the word liberal – originally meaning “generous” – as a political term, yet liberalism as an economic doctrine has never been popular in Spain. Except for a few American MBA-schooled, business-minded young conservatives, and some wealthy entrepreneurs, most Spanish conservative voters regard neoliberalism as too materialistic and foreign: too cruel. For Spanish conservatives there is always such thing as society – a middle class, nominally Catholic society.

So what is Margaret Thatcher doing in central Madrid, then? As so often during her lifetime, she is involved in a party quarrel, only this time it’s not her fault at all. For over two years, Spaniards have been demonstrating tirelessly against the austerity policies of Mariano Rajoy’s government. But no matter how radical these policies are in the eyes of the opposition, the liberals in Rajoy’s party are angry at him for the opposite reasons: for not going far enough. They chastise him for keeping taxes high and not cutting public spending even further, and they would like to see him act more forcefully against calls for Catalan independence. They may be in the minority, but they count on the support of an influential, vocal rightwing media.

One such critic within the party is a heavyweight: José María Aznar, a former prime minister and the man who chose Rajoy as his successor, a decision he has let it be known he now regrets. And Ana Botella, the mayor of Madrid who made the decision to honour Thatcher in the street map, just happens to be Aznar’s wife. Just to eradicate any doubt whether Plaza Margaret Thatcher might be a message, the square is situated only a few hundred metres down the street from the People’s party HQ, as if pointing in the direction the party should be heading.

For now, Rajoy looks safe. He has some macroeconomic figures to show, which – he believes – vindicate his policies, though you would need a magnifying glass to notice any changes. The growth of Podemos, a new left party, is likely to challenge the conservatives’ hold on power in the long run, but for now has, paradoxically, helped to take the pressure off the government by moving protesters off the streets and into Podemos’s party offices.

Even Rajoy’s most likely challenger within the party, the fiery Esperanza Aguirre, is in trouble with the law after a surreal traffic incident – she was one of the speakers at Monday’s inauguration. For now, at least, it doesn’t look like Plaza Margaret Thatcher will be a favourite hangout for Spanish conservatives.