They said they were coming to change the way politics was done, and that they were a reformist and regenerationist party. The only thing they left behind was a hatred unknown in political life, populist and incendiary dispute, confrontation between Catalans, and now, with the political project having failed, without a second thought they have adopted the tradition of the revolving doors that they denounced so much. But, as the saying goes, action speaks louder than words. Albert Rivera signed on as president of a law firm - from which he would be fired for poor performance and little dedication, and from which he demanded compensation of 500 days per year worked, but all this is another story - in what was his entry through one of these revolving doors between politics and management. Obviously, Rivera's value was his agenda, his political and business contacts and his ability to influence. It was not in any way an assessment of his knowledge as a lawyer nor, according to what was later said from the Martínez-Echeverría office, his ability to devote himself body and soul to his new profession.
That part of the Ibex business world that had supported him and put him in charge prudently deleted the Ciudadanos (Cs) upstart's phone number and never invited him back for coffee. His new occupation relates to a project in the education sphere, a programme to learn to speak and communicate in public at the Instituto Universitario de Liderazgo Cardinal Cisneros. This Thursday we were introduced to the revolving door of his protégée, Inés Arrimadas, who also left politics in a similar way, through the back door, although perhaps via an even lower level exit, electorally speaking, after the Cs defeat in the municipal and autonomous community elections last May, which expelled them from most Spanish municipalities, while their presence in the autonomous communities disappeared almost entirely.
The proclaimed regeneration obviously had a lot of posturing to it
Arrimadas has accepted the position of director of ESG and Communications in a renewable energy company, Recurrent Energy, part of the Canadian Solar Inc group. But among her responsibilities at the company will also be "public affairs and institutional relations for the company, working closely with global solar and energy storage giant Canadian Solar Inc, of which Recurrent Energy is a part." Public affairs and institutional relations, a lobbying-focused world of opening doors and, in a way, solving problems.
That proclaimed regeneration, obviously, had a lot of posturing to it. No different from traditional parties, from which many leaders end up desperately elbowing their way onto a board of directors, without having any knowledge. One doesn't have go into much detail on this matter, since the PSOE and the PP, as major Spanish parties, have been the greatest beneficiaries of some of the big companies. The only difference is that, in the PP and the PSOE, political regeneration is a subject almost always spoken about very quietly, grand proclamations are avoided, and they just keep getting on with things, and keep getting on the company boards. However, the Rivera-Arrimadas ticket came to change everything and what they have done is the same, only worse.