A court standoff in Spain leads to wild talk of a “coup”

THE SPANISH AREMP given to political hyperbole. For weeks, politicians of all stripes have been warning of dire threats to democracy. On December 19th, after the country’s constitutional court voted 6-5 along political lines on a crucial rule-of-law issue, many described it as a “coup”. In a parliamentary debate before the vote, a Socialist compared the situation to the Spanish armed forces’ attempt to seize power in 1981.This is an exaggeration: the conflict at the constitutional court centres on who has the power to appoint its judges. Still, the gloom-mongers have a point. No one is massing tanks or seizing radio stations. But is in its biggest institutional mess since Catalonia staged an illegal independence referendum in 2017.