Ignacio Dancausa, president of Nuevas Generaciones: "To the boomer voter of the PP, I would say that we want to have the same opportunities they enjoyed in the 80s or 90s"

Is corruption made or born?

Ábalos, Koldo, and Cerdán and company were born corrupt. A week after being in the Government they were already stealing. I’ve been in the new position for a week [he was elected president of Nuevas Generaciones on July 11] and I’m finding out how things work, taking my things to the office where I will work. Those who had more responsibility should have landed more matters and shortly after they were already stealing. The people around Pedro Sánchez and Pedro Sánchez himself are corrupt from birth.

Is there flirting in Nuevas Generaciones?

The position doesn’t suit me at all. I’m speaking for myself.

Which summer do you belong to?

The summer of 2001. The summer before Korea stole the World Cup from us. Actually, I would say the summer of 2010, because we won the World Cup. And if not, maybe the summer of 2019 when I finished high school. That one was very good. Before entering adult life.

Has adult life run you over?

Yes. My environment tells me so. I have given up going on Erasmus. Many plans. Much personal life. It’s not a complaint. I am happy and proud, I consider myself privileged to serve Spain. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, nor would I go back to doing all those things my friends have done. Here there are no weekends, you know what time you leave the house, but not when you get back. I have increasingly set myself to have dinner at home more. Political life is intense and disorderly. In all jobs and trades people work a lot. We work here too. It’s one of those disorderly trades, with the implications it has for personal life. I am happy and content. I prefer it to sitting eight hours in front of a computer.

You say you serve Spain. It sounds forced. Is everything so forced in politics?

In my case, no. I try to be as natural as possible. In the case of the vast majority of politicians I have dealt with, I tell you they are not either. They are people with a lot of vocation, they believe in it, they sacrifice much of their private life for the service to Spain. That’s when it shows. They could be more comfortable with other responsibilities and they are here risking their time, their health, sacrificing family time.

With which historical figure would you have dinner on a summer night?

With Charlie Kirk. I started a movement at university, when there were no references to Kirk in Spain, quite inspired by what he was doing. I have followed him a lot. He has been a political reference. It seems more obvious now, but I have followed him for six or seven years. I have identified a lot with his way of doing politics. I have admired him a lot.

Is there any political background in your family?

Never. None. Although the newspaper El País says my mother is Dolores Dancausa, who was CEO of Bankinter. No one in my family has been involved in politics. Nor have they had public exposure.

When did you feel the call?

In high school I didn’t like politics. I always told my parents to turn off the TV when politics was on. In the first year of high school I started to get interested. In the second year of high school it was the motion of no confidence. I joined right then. I joined because of the motion of no confidence. I sensed something bad was coming for Spain. From Sánchez’s project with the separatists and the destruction of the economy. Everyone said that idea was apocalyptic, but I was short. We are worse. I was a grassroots member. I started to get involved when I studied Political Science at Complutense and found a very non-neutral environment. That was my real active start.

Do you consider that the classic parameters of left and right no longer exist?

Yes. First because they are blocks from the French Revolution that have become old. And second because both liberal and Marxist authors have very little application in today’s politics. What I perceive in young people is not a feeling of identity regarding left or right. Young people want safe streets, to buy a house and for a salary to allow buying a house and starting a family. The left-right axis is a way to divide society. Young people are not there. I said a phrase in Congress that was very talked about: “Wokeness is officially dead.” We talk a lot about the culture war. I consider that we have already won the culture war. No one believes there are 70 genders. No one believes the Constitution has to be reformed with inclusive language. No one believes roosters rape hens. No one believes in these kinds of things. Our discourse is not focused on these woke issues, it is about being able to buy a house, that many neighborhoods and cities are more dangerous than 10 years ago, or that after finishing their studies young people have to leave Spain. It is the fault of the last eight years of Pedro Sánchez. We have won the culture war thanks to young people.

“Recently I saw a sunset in a crowded place. It was tacky”

Is Ayuso’s total support a double-edged sword?

In what sense?

It can mortgage your trajectory in the party.

We have to change Nuevas Generaciones. Improve it deeply. We are going to give it the touch and improvements we have made in Madrid. We are going to give it that style. I am ayuser, openly ayuser and the main priority of the ayuser in politics is to bring Feijóo to the Government of Spain. During these four years I have seen the Madrid party work with a lot of loyalty. That is what we are going to do. And not only from Madrid, but from all over Spain.

What would you say to the boomer PP voter who thinks young people don’t buy a house because of their Netflix subscription?

They could have access to a house, savings, and start a family. They think the world is the same. Houses are infinitely more expensive and salaries have not grown. Saying we could buy something if we save 10 euros a month from Netflix and another 10 from Spoti is absurd. Consumption habits have changed. Those habits are not a cause of the problem but a consequence. If you can only save 100 euros a month, that is, more or less 1,000 a year, in your damn life you will be able to buy a house. Therefore, it is normal to say, well, I am going to take a trip. To buy a house you should save 60 years to make a down payment with these salaries. All generations should listen more to young people. We want to have the same opportunities they enjoyed in the 80s or 90s.

Are sunsets overrated?

When there are phones involved, yes. Recently I saw a sunset in a very crowded place and the moment the sun went down everyone started clapping. It was a bit tacky. Sometimes I see sunsets in empty places, where there is no one, and it is better because tranquility is what is most sought after.

Does working as a stock clerk at Ikea take you out of the cliché?

No. It takes me out of the stereotype that some have tried to make about us, but it is not the reality. I categorically deny that there are ninis who come to get plugged into politics. There are people who do it badly everywhere. I answer for 99%: we are students, workers. They represent normal youth. Restocking at Ikea caught attention. I have had the possibility to give it visibility, but it is the reality of most militants who have worked to pay for their studies and are eager to work in what they like like any young person their age.

What have you used the young summer aid for?

Now I am traveling around Spain and I am not using it.

Have you really not taken the ALSA with Sánchez’s discount?

Pedro Sánchez’s young summer makes ALSA run out of tickets and go empty. People pay one euro and most get two tickets to not have anyone next to them and you try to buy a ticket and there is none and then the bus goes empty. We don’t want a handout. We want to be able to work to save, build our life and buy a house. As our grandparents and parents did with a lot of work.

What is your summer song?

I listen to Post Malone. Losers, by Post Malone. For the losers of the Government of Spain.

What summer habit do you take into winter?

The other way around. I take winter habits into summer. I work and don’t disconnect.

I keep asking you about summer and you keep talking about work. It’s a bit of a pose, isn’t it?

No, it’s not posing. I’m a bit of a workaholic.

What is your favorite conspiracy theory?

[Thinks about the answer for a minute. Bites his tongue]. I will say that the 2022 Qatar World Cup was rigged for Messi to win.

“We have won the culture war thanks to young people”

How do you motivate someone from your generation to believe in the system?

The despair of young people regarding the system is understandable. The Government offers nothing to reverse this trend. Many young people blame the democratic system. It is wrong. The Spanish system does have the tools, but the Government does not use them well. The PP is the only party that claims the Transition, the 78 and the Monarchy. I believe that for democracy to work we must all contribute from all generations and ideologies. We have to recover the concept of intergenerational solidarity, which is talked about a lot, but in both directions.

Are young people more right-wing than ever?

It is a natural reaction. It has always been said that we are anti-system and the system cannot be more ultra-leftist. You see all the Western elites who have been pushing leftist ideas for a decade. We have rebelled.

And is that good?

The reaction is natural. It has always been said that we are more anti-system than ever and the system cannot be more ultra-leftist. You see all the Western elites and they have been trying to push these leftist ideas for a decade by always pushing political nonsense whenever they can. The young people who have received these ideas from the system it is normal that we rebel against them.

Is what happened in Ceuta answered with the question what does the PSOE owe Morocco?

Yes, someday we will know why Sánchez is subordinated to the interests of a foreign Government. Inducing a foreign power to commit acts of hostility against Spain and favoring the invasion of national territory by foreign forces has a name.

Whose pool do you freeload?

I’m zero aquatic. I don’t like the beach. I don’t like the pool. I do like the sea, but I like the beach. Sunbathing. People around.

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