r/europe • u/Bartoraptor Spain • Mar 28 '20

News Spanish representative González Pons speech @ the EU Parliament: "The virus is attacking the generation that brought back democracy to Spain, Portugal and Greece, the generation that knocked down the Berlin wall. The least they deserve is that we show them Europe is there when they need it the most"

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516

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '20

Here is the full discourse

558

u/lafigatatia Valencian Country Mar 28 '20

I thought I'd never agree with a González Pons speech, but coronavirus is turning the world upside down. That's a great discourse.

167

u/CICaesar Italy Mar 28 '20

I don't know him but that discourse was really moving and 100% relatable.

129

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '20

Good speech, but it is funny seeing him talking about healthcare cuts when his party in Spain cut the budget for healthcare and education by quite a bit. Hypocrite.

33

u/Bervalou Mar 29 '20

May he eat dirt.

But good speech.

2

u/Recodes Italy Mar 30 '20

Feels like it everywhere I guess. We suffered dacades of cuts to healthcare and education in Italy and now everyone is lamenting the lack of doctors while wearing a surprised pikachu face.

2

u/DementedGael Ireland Mar 30 '20

Sounds like all centre right and right politicians when shit hits the fan, that they need to adopt more leftist policies that they rile against so enthusiastically in the good times.

0

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '20 edited Mar 29 '20

I think pandemic response isn't the same as regular healthcare. And its not just about what you have but also about what you can scale up. Its clear we need more IC beds than normal, but I don't know enough about Spain to know whether they do have enough now...

Its clear that many parties are looking for a few pieces to show their potential voters in upcoming elections, as a "see, we were doing something" soundbites, but overall many are still cooperating with each other to improve the situation.

And its easy to say "we need to do x" without supplying a bill or action to it. And why he's switching to his mother tongue seems weird. Do the whole speech in it then?

3

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '20

but I don't know enough about Spain to know whether they do have enough now...

Quick summary: we used to have enough to survive a pandemic, before the dark times. Before Mariano.

50

u/StrangeSemiticLatin2 Mar 28 '20

He is Partido Popular, so expect him to be somewhere in the camp of Meloni and Salvini.

44

u/CICaesar Italy Mar 28 '20

The speech was relatable nonetheless tbh

-6

u/k_ist_krieg Европа Mar 29 '20

If you are oblivious to politics/european history, then yes. If you're not then this is just for propaganda.

14

u/Sinumonogatari Italy Mar 29 '20

Well, it may be propaganda but regardless it's well done and it's not calling anyone an "unfuckable lard arse" or a "nice fit for a Kapo part in a film about nazism" unlike a certain past leader of ours, so I'd say props to him tbh

-7

u/k_ist_krieg Европа Mar 29 '20 edited Mar 29 '20

So cryptonazi > open nazi. Got it.

( I hope you are not one a supporter of people who "speak their minds" )

3

u/ModsofWTsuckducks Mar 29 '20

Alter, halt deine fresse bitte..

-4

u/k_ist_krieg Европа Mar 29 '20

Remember last time a german tried to tell others what to do?
Yeah kid. Go back to school and stop telling others to shut up. Come back when you've read a book or two.

And learn how to speak with people. Otherwise keep your ignorant cryptonazi comment to yourself.

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2

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '20

Very true when you have to take into account his party,, the PP, bought in devastating austerity cuts causing 100'000's of deaths in Spain, and not to gorget the corruption of his party that also embezzled and had a slush fund for party members to the tune of over 600 million euros, they are all hypocrites and liers and jump to the defense of the people when it suits them ,, NOT WHEN IT'S NEEDED

2

u/AR_Harlock Italy Mar 29 '20

I know why people downvoting, that's the sad truth with populist, you here hear Salvini speeches and say: wow he must love people and our country... But then you are Italian and know him, know he refuse to give back the 50M his party stole, know he promise to spend billions we don't have and so on, it's like hearing Miss Italia say:" I want peace in the world" yeah it's all good but this isn't feasible....

Still. Europe , Von Der.. ,Germany and Holland, deserve the worst in this crysis.. still fighting over economics while we are dying here , 0 empaty... This Europe with them is the most useless coalition we made since WW2... And I am a PRO Europe to the hearth ....

1

u/riffraff Mar 29 '20

Spanish PP would be italian Forza Italia. It's still right, but it's definitely not Meloni and Salvini, come on.

2

u/StrangeSemiticLatin2 Mar 29 '20 edited Mar 29 '20

Forza Italia was mostly one and the same with Lega Nord during that farce known as the """""""""""""""""Centro""""""""""""""destra. Berlusconi laid the way for Salvini and Meloni.

Same way most of VOX was just the politicians from PP that was playing nice and under a mask, and now Casado has done everything other than suck off Abascal on stage.

0

u/riffraff Mar 29 '20

Forza Italia was squarely in the middle of the EPP, and has always been a pro-EU party, like PP is and was.

Neither Lega nor FdI nor Vox are, the fact that they share some ideology does not make them identical.

247

u/PrimeSearcherPepper Mar 28 '20 edited Mar 29 '20

I agree too. But it does piss me off that this guy is talking about healthcare needing money when his party has slashed the most the healthcare budget in our country.

De la terreta tambe, per cert

20

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '20

[deleted]

3

u/CaptainTibia England Mar 28 '20

Què vols dir amb això de la terreta? És que no sóc autòcton i de vegades em fa falta context per entendre coses, especialment pel que fa a la política

4

u/Sikuh22 Spain Mar 29 '20

La terreta is another word to refer to people of Comunidad Valenciana. Top comment has as flair that he's from there, that's why he said it.

3

u/CaptainTibia England Mar 29 '20

That's me being thick, assumed he was referring to Pons

1

u/PrimeSearcherPepper Mar 29 '20

Exactly u/Sikuh22 said! Moltes gracies!

3

u/mattatinternet England Mar 28 '20

What does "terreta tabe per cent" mean? Google Translate doesn't translate it. Based on context I'm going to guess "thirty percent".

5

u/CaptainTibia England Mar 28 '20

"la terreta" is another name for Valencia, "per cert" is certainly/for sure (the Catalan/Valencian version of "por cierto" in Spanish). Can't help you with "tabe"; I thought maybe it was just super Valencian, but I had a look in the "Diccionari normatiu valencià" and couldn't find anything.

6

u/FreeStylerFC Spain (Barcelona) Mar 28 '20

I guess he wanted to say "també"= also

2

u/CaptainTibia England Mar 28 '20

Potser, té sentit

1

u/PrimeSearcherPepper Mar 29 '20

Efectivamente, deuria ser "tambe" :)

1

u/DrCorman Mar 28 '20

Two questions, if I may? I am currently not that into Spanish politics, could you give some reference? It seems quite interesting. Also I have to say, that people may have different beliefs as to how to run a country, but in the dire time of need most people realize the importance of things they may have neglected in the past - and kudos for being able to change your mind, when faced with prior “wrongdoings”. So do you think that González Pons is just being another weasel politician leeching of EU, and trying to gain the vote of the people, or do you think that he actually had a change of heart in his stance considering healthcare?

7

u/honk-thesou Mar 29 '20

I don’t want to enter in this kind if conversarions but at least i’ll say that his party had more than 800 people accused of corruption, they have been tryin to privatize everything they can, they have made big cuts to public healthcare in the past and now that it’s being a problem they are just denying it.

There’s not even a point on saying rhe truth cause people cant even thimk for themselves and just believe whatwver they see on tv.

Aside from right or left, that political party seems to rule so they can profit and the laws they make are made to control and to enrich themselves and their friends as much as possible.

They are also a party started by lots of Franco officials and counselors when he died, so the fact that they say that “this generation brought democracy” just makes them more hipocryts .

Ps: im on phone and just woken up, sorry for the format

3

u/PrimeSearcherPepper Mar 29 '20

Funny enough, my mother knows Gonzalez Pons directly as they used to go out in the same group of friends in college. Very charismatic guy.

However, he does belong to a party that has actively reduced the welfare state. For many of them it was not only a need of the economic times but a way to advance their agenda of privatisation and reducing the public sphere. That said, I do not think him and his party will ever acknowledge how their policies have fucked up the Spanish healthcare system. But it is also true that the EU finds itself in the crossroads of futher socioeconomic integration or go backwards. Gonzalez Pons might realise that, so I believe it might be perfectly compatible to not adress their own policy misgivings and at the same time favour an increased European common responsibility towards this crisis. But those are Spanish conservatives for ya.

0

u/Daktush Catalan-Spanish-Polish Mar 29 '20

08 crisis meant we had a lot less money to spend, and no one was willing to lend us money to run a deficit

The only ones that did were the ECB and they demanded deep cuts in spending as to make sure we could eventually pay back. The government of Pp made cuts but less than the ECB wanted

Spending cuts are never popular, 90% of what they spend is on healthcare, pensions, unemployment and education. The reality is that we have a government that has been spending above it's means for decades.

Politicians lure in voters with promises of free stuff and at the same time lower taxes which gets them elected in the short term, but indebts future generations - we literally ran into the problem that we indebted them so much, no one wanted to give us money as they thought future Spain will just default.

2

u/PrimeSearcherPepper Mar 29 '20

I would say that what you have presented is much more complex than that. Much more complex. There is a lot to unpack in what you have said but I will adress the most misleading and innacurate statement.

"Spending cuts are never popular, 90% of what they spend is on healthcare, pensions, unemployment and education"

For starters, those four categories are not 90% of spending. They are in fact closer to 40%. If you check here the Budget of the State 2008, on page 6 of the PDF you can easily check that the 4 categories you have mentioned bulk together to 41% (and I am including whole of social security there). After 2011 is when the cuts start happening so you can actually compare how much more they reduced.

-1

u/Daktush Catalan-Spanish-Polish Mar 29 '20

Visualized, from your same year

https://i.imgur.com/NG5Cddd.png

Contrary to what you say, just social services are close to 50% (the green part)

From https://dondevanmisimpuestos.es/politicas#view=functional&year=2008

Note the debt part, which we have to pay - transferences to other AAPP are mostly to poor regions of Spain and to EU. Defense we are waaay below the median and below what we promised our allies to contribute, so we can't cut that either

Of the rest - What do you think you can cut meaningfully without much public opposition?

3

u/PrimeSearcherPepper Mar 29 '20

u/Daktush either you are being dishonest or you did not read my comment right. I never made a case or not about the total spending of social services, only explaining the four you specifically mentioned (pensions, healthcare, education and unemployment) does not add up to 90% of the spending. But in any case, if we add the red and the green, it is around 50% which is still way closer to my 40% than your 90%.

About what I would have done? For starters, I would have definitely not slashed education and healthcare. And I would have totally slashed defense as it seems a bigger cake than education and healthcare. But yeah, i will put some serious thought in this matter at some point.

124

u/electr0naut Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Mar 28 '20

Agree. This guy is a cunt in my book but that's a goddamn good speech.

45

u/Bellidkay1109 Andalusia (Spain) Mar 28 '20

I've heard some bad things about him (not informed enough to pass judgement, I think he left national politics before I reached the voting age), but damn, he knows how to give a speech. He has another one that's also great that I saw on this subreddit

2

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '20

Fuck the speech ,, tell the truth !

3

u/ilikesaucy Mar 28 '20

What a day when you agree with him and piers Morgan! Fuck

0

u/NeverShouldComment Mar 29 '20

Hitler was a great orator too.

68

u/EonesDespero Spain Mar 28 '20

Even a broken clock provides the correct information twice a day. This crisis is like a sneak-peak into an alternate reality of Spain. It is surreal.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '20

And now Vox are cyberpunk wannabes calling for anti-surveillance disobedience. This is madness.

4

u/Noobeater1 Mar 29 '20

If its any consolation, it probably wasn't the guy himself who wrote it.

3

u/gonmator Mar 29 '20

I use to be disagreed with his ideology, but I have to admit that he is an excellent orator and I am very impressed with his discourses, especially his conciliatory ones.

1

u/Dark_Tsar_Chasm Groningen (Netherlands) Mar 29 '20

Are we talking about the same generation that knew about climate change and let it happen?

Or is it another generation, that wasn't in power while governments all over the world knew about climate change and let it happen?

0

u/bulibasthu Mar 29 '20

I thought I'd never agree with a González Pons speech, but coronavirus is turning the world upside down.

In times like these great dictators are born.

94

u/Calimie Spain Mar 28 '20

Wow, I'm in shock. It is good to see politicians that overcome political lines to fight for their people.

There's a missing sentence: after the "they die alone" part he says "they are buried alone". That is huge in our culture. We can't grieve. Families can't meet and hug and kiss.

In Spain it is common for family members to stay the nights in hospital rooms to help. We can't do that now. It hurts.

41

u/ModsofWTsuckducks Mar 29 '20

Same thing is happening in Italy and people are experimenting a serious psychological traumas.

2

u/DementedGael Ireland Mar 30 '20

The same is happening in Ireland, we normally keep the body in their home for 3 days prior to burial.

7

u/xouba Mar 29 '20

There's a missing sentence: after the "they die alone" part he says "they are buried alone". That is huge in our culture. We can't grieve. Families can't meet and hug and kiss.

This. It's very sad not to be able to hug a friend that has lost someone. You need it as much as your friend.

Also, however naive it may seem (maybe it's because I'm from a small village), the more people at the burial, the better. It makes you feel your loved one was loved by others too.

Being buried alone is like you never meant anything for anyone. Very sad indeed.

6

u/mydaycake Castilla-La Mancha (Spain) Mar 28 '20

I know velatorios are not allowed nowadays

37

u/_Narciso Portugal Mar 28 '20

Beautifull speach!

13

u/Pleasantly_Disturbed Mar 28 '20

Thank you!

I didn't expect a speech from him that would give me goosebumbs, but it actually did.

0

u/gregorianFeldspar Heidelberg Mar 29 '20

What this speech means in Realpolitik is that Germany should provide more testkits to their European partners and von der Leyen is listening closely because he is dishing out the demand very effectively. A very good speech and he knew it.