Madrid Letter: Socialist prime minister relies on pro-independence Catalans and Basques and faces strident opposition from the right Visitors to the local government’s headquarters in the Real Casa de Correos in central Madrid are invited to leave a festive message beneath the Christmas tree that adorns the building. Most of these notes tend to be good-hearted wishes for a happy holiday. But this year, one handwritten message stood out. “May Pedro Sánchez be killed,” it read, followed by: “Health and happiness.” This wish for the Socialist prime minister’s death is entirely in keeping with the tone of Spanish politics in 2023, which has lurched from fierce polarisation to toxic entrenchment. Sánchez has been a lightning rod for the right-wing opposition,…
