Pedro Sánchez is undoubtedly the most traveled president of democracy. The PSOE leader has put a lot of effort into the international agenda, which he considers strategic, unlike other previous presidents who were not so comfortable at summits and limited their presence to the essentials. The Davos Forum is clear proof. Sánchez is already one of the world's most visited presidents. He never fails – this was his sixth participation, one of them telematically in the middle of the pandemic – and uses his agenda to completely change the third of tense Spanish politics, enjoying two days of meetings in which no one questions him about the amnesty and not once because of the political instability in Spain.
In Davos, no one seems to be interested in the tensions with Carles Puigdemont, which dominate the political agenda in Spain. Sánchez met with dozens of executives in two days, gave two television interviews – Bloomberg and CNBC – and the amnesty or Puigdemont did not appear at any of these meetings. Not even in the meeting with the main executives of Ibex 35 was the issue that concerns Parliament the most mentioned.
There is a fire in Spanish politics, the amnesty takes up almost all the space, to the despair of the government, which, citing the CIS, insists that it is an issue that is present in the media but not among the citizens find so much appeal. But on the international stage, Sánchez does not appear as a weak leader, but as a solid politician who has achieved the majority for four more years. And this is clearly felt in Davos, where the president's team has no difficulty organizing an agenda at the highest level, with the heads of huge multinational corporations such as Google, Cisco, Intel, Qualcomm, Sanofi and Fujitsu. He discussed investments with everyone, but especially about the big Davos topic that Sánchez removed from the general national agenda for a few days: artificial intelligence with its opportunities but also risks. According to an IMF report, up to 40% of jobs worldwide will be affected. “We need to pay more attention to the concerns of our workers, our youth and our elders, and pay less attention to the empty promises of some Silicon Valley gurus who are more interested in gaining followers or climbing the Forbes millionaires list than in real ones Progress in humanity,” Sánchez said in his speech in Davos.
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Even Ibex 35 executives, some of whom had significant tensions with the government over special taxes on energy companies or banks, fully attended the meeting with Sánchez in Davos. And everyone avoided accusations. The appointment, which came with the prediction of sit-ins, had the opposite effect: it sanctioned that the Ibex 35, whose ideological distance from Sánchez is obvious, believes, unlike part of the opposition, that the president is most likely several years ahead him. more than a mandate. The only one who could not attend due to a commitment from the forum's own organization, Ana Botín, tried to approach Sánchez and take a photo with him alone to eliminate any suspicion of tension. “If a president calls you, you can’t go. Sánchez has been there for five years and has shown that he can stay there for another four years. Institutional respect must be shown. We will privately tell you the topics we don’t like,” one of the executives said. In La Moncloa they believe that the very image presented to an Ibex 35 in front of the government made all the executives change their agenda to attend the meeting and avoid a problem with the executive with which they have dozens of need to understand problems.
Even Rafael del Pino (Ferrovial) attended the meeting and only talked about artificial intelligence as if nothing had happened after Sánchez sharply attacked him for moving the Spanish multinational's headquarters to the Netherlands. At this moment, one of the most critical that La Moncloa has experienced for the business community, the opposition indicated that there could be a chain of departures. But it didn't happen, no one followed in Ferrovial's footsteps, and that gave the government a lot of peace of mind, which dispelled the fear predicted by the PP.
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The change in the world's perception of Sánchez can be analyzed through the questions asked of him in the meetings. In the first Davos there were many doubts about a president who was recruited by a motion of no confidence with the support of those who are communists in the eyes of those who rule this heart of capitalism that meets in an idyllic town in the Swiss Alps. unredeemed, like Podemos and its then leader Pablo Iglesias. Above all, they feared his reforms. For a few years they asked him less and less about the political stability in Spain and especially about the reforms, about labor reforms, about the housing law, which could affect the interests of large investment funds.
But now these initial doubts have been dispelled and the executives only talk to Sánchez about business: investments, public-private cooperation, European funds and, this year, above all, artificial intelligence, projects in which Spain can participate. The Spanish President gives guarantees to everyone, opens the doors to them and is convinced that there will be more and more large projects in Spain. Senior executives come through La Moncloa to announce major investments: last week IAG, the parent company of Iberia, announced an investment of 6 billion in five years and Ryanair of 5 billion in seven years.
Sánchez, like other European presidents, points out that the state will not be immune from all these economic movements. Buying 10% of Telefónica sent a clear message. The government is closely monitoring the latest major move, the purchase of 20% of Naturgy by Blackrock, the American giant whose leader Larry Fink met Sánchez several times in Davos or New York.
The leader of the PSOE is committed to a world very different from the one proposed by the Argentine Javier Milei – who spoke just a few minutes apart on the same stage as him – who defends that the “problem” is the state and the capitalists are the heroes.” “. “Today the Spaniards know that neoliberal policies do not work,” cried the Spanish president, who opted for “a new virtuous triangle of the private sector, the state and civil society”: “This will allow us to guarantee and increase economic prosperity . “Well-being and equality and environmental sustainability for everyone, everywhere.”
Sánchez is treated much more leniently outside Spain than within Spain. And most importantly, the agenda is changing. But in La Moncloa no one can be fooled: what matters is what happens inside, what determines the elections and the votes in parliament. Now the difficult negotiations over the budget with ERC and Junts begin and the amnesty continues on its way, although a large part of the justice system is against it. And the PP, which believes that the alliance with Junts is seriously wearing down Sánchez, will do everything in its power to weaken the president. Davos does not give a voice or change Spanish public opinion. But it serves as a gauge of the country's image in the world. And it does not seem that there is much concern about Spain in the economic world, neither externally nor internally, because an Ibex 35 closed a record year in 2023 with an increase of 22%. In fact, compared to major European leaders, Sánchez is stronger than most because he has just formed a government and is managing to pass virtually all of the reforms he has promoted, something not many in unstable Europe can claim . The drama of Spanish politics diminishes greatly when viewed from the outside, although what really matters is what one perceives from within.
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