Arturo Pérez-Reverte's applauded comment on Meloni: "I compare his words with those of Feijóo, Abascal, Sánchez... and it makes me want to be Italian."

Arturo Pérez-Reverte declared yesterday via X, formerly Twitter, that, after listening to Alberto Núñez Feijóo , Santiago Abascal and Pedro Sánchez, comparing their speeches with that of "that blonde lady" - referring to Giorgia Meloni - he had "a huge desire (temporary, but huge) to be Italian."

The tweet was a reaction to the Italian prime minister speaking via video at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, a favorite forum for the American right, where she argued that the West is not just a place on the map, but "a civilization forged by Greek philosophy, Roman law , and Christian values."

Meloni stirred the audience with a speech against cancel culture and " woke ideology," proclaiming that freedom comes before everything and that "we will never apologize for who we are." He called for unity in the face of "internal and external attacks" on the Western project and concluded that identity is an indispensable condition for returning to greatness without complexes .

Hateful comparisons , some might say, but the Cartagena writer used the contrast to criticize the tone and poor rhetoric of the Spanish political class. His diatribe included the vernacular "door-scraper," referring to both current politicians and those aspiring to be so in the future.

At press time, Pérez-Reverte's post had accumulated more than 27,000 likes and thousands of comments: some applaud him for "saying what many people think"; others call him "nostalgic" and even "exalted."