Chronology of a brief encounter

Twenty seconds can last forever. They can give time to discuss a diplomatic crisis, the reaffirmation of the commitment of a country that hosts the military bases of another, the strengthening of transatlantic ties, the necessary multilateralism, the migration problem and even the advisability of reactivating tourism between two friendly countries. All of this should have taken place in the fleeting walkabout that Joe Biden granted Pedro Sánchez today in the cold and giant corridors of NATO headquarters in Brussels. All of this, in theory, was to be discussed at their much-publicised meeting. 

If the information leaked to the media from the Moncloa Palace press office on Thursday 10 June is anything to go by, the two were to meet while attending the NATO summit. But a meeting can never be a brief twenty-second chat as the two leaders stroll towards the plenary. The respective chiefs of staff, Ron Klain and Iván Redondo, had sealed the details of the meeting in a telephone conversation hours earlier, but the White House had never confirmed the details of the Monclovite information, which aroused all the suspicions of analysts and journalists. In the end, the suspicions were confirmed, and the only conversation that the American and Spanish presidents had in Brussels was the ephemeral rhythmic walking while the two exchanged no more than three sentences each, until Sánchez took a few steps forward, perfectly aware that what had been agreed was a mere walking greeting with no more importance than what Moncloa had given him, recording with his photographer and his camera such a bilateral meeting for history. 

The only thing that Biden has granted Sánchez is the 'privilege' of accompanying his steps for about fifty metres, while the others moved a little ahead of the odd couple, and being able to comment to him in a very private way that Spain is here and that we will be a faithful partner, much more faithful than Sanchez's ideology is capable of guaranteeing towards those who stray from his populist creed. The occupant of the White House only looked at his interlocutor at the end, inviting him with his left arm resting lightly on his back to walk in front of him, because the agreed seconds were already up. The use of masks prevents us from finding out which of the two has spoken more; it seems from the images that the Spaniard has been more proactive and the Pennsylvania politician more reactive, the movement of his eyes suggesting that he has answered with monosyllables before saying goodbye. At most, they may have discussed an issue shared by both countries, probably the holding of the next NATO summit in Spain. Or perhaps the promise to receive him in the Oval Office when the number of heads of state and government passing through with Biden as host has reached triple digits. 

Sánchez arrived at the Atlantic Alliance headquarters in need of an image. Only the resounding victory of his official candidate in the Andalusian primaries has cheered him up a little in a period of constant setbacks that began with the frustrated motions of censure and increased with the resounding electoral defeat in Madrid. It was therefore foolhardy to announce what happened today as a working meeting. The Presidency's plumbers got themselves into the mess by making people believe that something was going to happen that the other side never confirmed. That is why this inanimate parade is now one of the sublime moments of a mandate, and not exactly Joe Biden's.