Politicians and university education: the value of truth

This week we returned to the recurring debate about academic training in Spanish politics as an informal passport to legitimacy. The truthfulness of qualifications in politics is part of a social reality; it's not written into any law, but university education is perceived as an implicit requirement.

Social pressure and the reality of a country where a significant portion of students lacked access to such education for economic reasons turned the university into a symbol of progress, social advancement, and preparation . The temple of intelligence where Unamuno stood as high priest and reminded the fascist Millán Astray that winning did not mean convincing. During the dictatorship, it housed one of the few places of openness and political rebellion, with its protagonists, most of whom came from families linked to the regime's elite. With the arrival of democracy, it consolidated itself as the main driver of political change in Spain.

Many working-class families, who hadn't had access to such studies, were committed to ensuring their children's access to university. I remember how important it was in my neighborhood that we be the first generations of our families to attend university. Our parents and grandparents felt it was also their success. Higher education came to symbolize that triumph, respect, and in the political sphere, the possibility of representation. Even today, many candidates feel the need to embellish their academic resumes , even in questionable ways, to meet that collective expectation. In too many cases, they forget that the first qualities required of public representatives are honesty and integrity. Honesty to avoid deception and integrity to manage what belongs to everyone. It is the greatest guarantee of democracy. Let us unite talent, commitment, training, empathy, and the virtue of listening, and the path to citizen trust in the public good will be greater.

This pressure hasn't only been present in politics; in the workplace, it's been the other way around . It's led to the overqualification of thousands of young graduates, postgraduates, master's degrees, and others trapped in precarious jobs, while neglecting vocational training in our country. Faced with this reality, when we ask ourselves whether a degree is enough or whether we must also possess ethics, experience, and commitment, we see that there are different ways to achieve political leadership. Since Lula da Silva, without a university degree, he started as a shoeshine boy and street vendor, and as a union member, he embraced social justice and is demonstrating his capacity and empathy to understand that Brazil's development depends on lifting millions of people out of the poverty to which they were condemned. On the contrary, leaders like Emmanuel Macron, trained in the best schools, have been effective and are knowing how to understand a complicated moment in the new world order.

I still believe that Spanish politics needs the truth . I grew up in my activism remembering the words of that young Machado when listening to the typographer Pablo Iglesias Posse. "Pablo Iglesias's voice had for me the unmistakable—and indefinable—ring of human truth." That "ring of truth"—coherent, sincere, humble—should be our best credential. Perhaps that is the path the Spanish people want from us: always the truth.