Pedro Sánchez has begun the catharsis. The first changes, although limited and surgical in nature, are nevertheless deeply felt. Although it may seem that he is limiting himself to a mere replacement, the message he is sending is clear. The president is making a new turn of the helm and changing the epicentre of his core: the brain of the strategic line of Moncloa. The profile of Diego Rubio, the new Chief of Staff, is radically different from that of his predecessor Óscar López, who jumps to the portfolio of Digital Transformation and Civil Service after the departure of José Luis Escrivá to the Bank of Spain. Sánchez goes from a thoroughbred PSOE member to an independent profile, without any affiliation and far removed from party dynamics. From a veteran to a new perspective. From the political to the strategic. And, above all, he breaks the umbilical cord between La Moncloa and the PSOE.
This circumstance has already made Ferraz and the party nervous, where they fear that a new stage of disconnection will begin, like the one experienced during the era of Iván Redondo. At that time, from the PSOE, where some sectors had declared war on him, there was a push to force his departure or, at least, to stop him from continuing to monopolise all the power that Sánchez was willing to give him. The resistance was maximum. Therefore, when the replacement at the head of Sánchez’s Cabinet was announced, suspicions began.
There is total uncertainty and they are waiting to see what steps Rubio will take in his new position. Above all, regarding the continuity of the positions that depend organically on him: Antonio Hernando and Paco Salazar. Hernando was López’s right-hand man and his more than likely departure would mean that Sánchez distances himself from the Pepe Blanco sector, mentor of all of them. Salazar is a party man, with influence in decisions and who greases the machinery between Moncloa and the PSOE. He was Redondo’s shadow and with his departure in 2021 he ended up at the Hipódromo de la Zarzuela. He later returned to the hard core until today.
Rubio’s choice of a Chief of Staff will allow us to see what strategic line he wants to set and to what extent he will cut ties with the party. Sources consulted anticipate that he is likely to promote important changes, with new signings and younger and more independent profiles, without resorting to the PSOE. Other sources reveal that his appointment has not gone down well in some sectors of the party, who define him as a brilliant academic profile, but doubt that this in-depth knowledge of the issues can be applied to purely political matters. However, Rubio has been part of Sánchez’s closest circle for some time now, preparing speeches and interventions in forums and debates.
He arrived at La Moncloa with Iván Redondo and his Office of Foresight, where he directed the document Spain 2050. Since then he has been standing out and climbing positions, earning Sánchez’s trust, until he reached his closest orbit as Secretary General of Public Policies, European Affairs and Strategic Foresight, a position from which he has advised the president in the design and coordination of national and community public policies. That is, acting as Sánchez’s sherpa at European summits. Those who know him point out that, although it means returning to the terrain of strategy more suited to Redondo, his profile has nothing to do with it.
Rubio (Cáceres, 1986) is an academic, a historian with a National Award for Academic Excellence and studies at universities such as La Sorbonne and Oxford, he is independent and had no political career when he arrived at La Moncloa in 2020. He graduated in History from the Autonomous University of Barcelona with the best academic record in the country, for which he obtained the aforementioned National Award for Academic Excellence from the Ministry of Education. He has a special interest in the relationship between History and technology, an aspect on which he reads essays, while combining his free time with walks in nature and traveling. As a result of this interest, he wrote and directed the documentary series “A History of the Future” (2019), produced by the History Channel on topics related to the future of society such as climate, work or globalization. It premiered in December 2019 at the 25th United Nations Climate Summit, reports Efe. “He will bring his integrity, his technical rigor and his transversal vision,” Sánchez said about him.