The government of Spain’s young and handsome new prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, is held together by a parliamentary coalition so motley and fickle that the chances of him passing new laws or — as many suggest he should, reforming the constitution — are almost nil.

What the 46-year-old Socialist Party leader can do, though, even in the few months he may remain in charge before an election, is to encourage Spain to grow up. Given that the country emerged from a dictatorship only four decades ago — and after a ghastly civil war — it is no surprise that its democratic culture is not yet fully formed. The institutions are in place but the mood swings and contradictory impulses of adolescence remain.

Oddly, the gawky