IF ANY political party can claim to have invented modern Spain, it is the Socialists. They have ruled for 21 of the 39 years of Spain’s restored democracy. Under Felipe González, the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), to give it its full name, took the country into the EU and NATO and modernised its economy. And under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero it modernised cultural attitudes, loosening restrictions on abortion and approving gay rights.
Now the PSOE threatens to tear itself apart. Amid extraordinary scenes at its headquarters in the placid Madrid barrio of Argüelles, the party’s general secretary, Pedro Sánchez (pictured), clung to his post for three days after more than half his executive resigned. Following a 12-hour meeting of the party’s nearly 300-strong federal committee on October 1st, which featured shouts, tears and what looked like an attempt to rig a secret ballot, Mr Sánchez resigned, defeated by 132 votes to 107. He has been replaced by a caretaker committee.
One cause of this internal warfare was the party’s string of electoral…