Feijóo, a poor imitation of Abascal
When Alberto Núñez Feijóo arrived in Madrid, he did so with the aura of a capable, moderate, and predictable manager. He came from governing Galicia with everything under control, and his conciliatory approach seemed ideal for reclaiming the center ground that Pablo Casado had squandered in his failed bid for the leadership of the People's Party (PP). Feijóo was then the symbol of a right wing that wanted to become serious again, capable of inspiring confidence among the middle class and presenting itself as an alternative to Pedro Sánchez.
Four years later, that expectation has dissolved like a sugar cube. Núñez Feijóo is piloting a ship without a rudder, tossed about by the winds blowing from the far right. Lacking its own narrative, the PP is trapped between the fear of losing conservative voters and the inability to construct a centrist discourse, thus handing ground to the far right.
The People's Party (PP) is currently mired in a perpetual contradiction: it wants to defeat the Socialist Party (PSOE), yet it only speaks to Vox voters. While attempting to amplify the mistakes and the weariness of Pedro Sánchez's government, it fails to project itself as a viable alternative. Its voice sounds worn out and distant, marked by an obsession with Catalonia and the mechanical repetition of the same aggressive rhetoric that no longer resonates with anyone.
The PP's perpetual campaign is an exercise in anti-politics disguised as institutional seriousness. Everything revolves around Pedro Sánchez, as if rejecting the president were, in itself, a political project. But after so many months of trying to capitalize on the weariness of many citizens, Feijóo still inspires neither enthusiasm nor confidence. Voters perceive him as a lackluster figure, uncomfortable with confrontational rhetoric and incapable of explaining why he would be a better president than the others; they see him as someone who wants power for its own sake.
Meanwhile, Vox has managed to fill the emotional void left by the PP. Santiago Abascal and his followers are taking a simplistic populist discourse, full of slogans and feigned outrage, to an electorate desperate for immediate certainty. The narrative is straightforward: the state is hijacked, institutions are corrupt, and the unity of Spain is threatened by immigrants, feminists, and separatists. Faced with this, Feijóo is torn between the temptation to emulate them and the fear of confronting them.
The recent examples of Extremadura and Aragon are clear: the People's Party (PP) calls elections to secure a larger majority and get rid of Vox, but the result is exactly the opposite, as with each passing day it becomes more and more beholden to Vox. Government agreements, designed as pacts of convenience, end up giving the far right the platform it needs to set the agenda and shape public policy. While Feijóo tries to maintain an institutional image in Madrid, his party in the autonomous communities serves as a testing ground for far-right ideology.
Within the ranks of the People's Party (PP), only in the Community of Madrid does Isabel Díaz Ayuso, with her populist charisma and opportunistic strategy, manage to retain the voters who elsewhere are drawn to Vox. The paradox is that Feijóo would like to be Ayuso, but without assuming her role. He tries to appear moderate while practicing the agitational politics that Ayuso dominates, but it doesn't work. Núñez Feijóo has become a poor imitation of Abascal and, therefore, increasingly resorts to grotesque imitations of populist discourse, doing things like cozying up to the televangelist Vito Quiles, with a hefty paycheck, to try to convince himself that the far right is on his side.
Dark clouds loom on the horizon if the far right dictates the political agenda, as is the case in the autonomous communities where Vox holds decisive power. Only a miracle, with a historic mobilization of the progressive vote—which is nowhere to be seen right now—could reverse the unstoppable momentum toward a PP-Vox majority in Spain. The future that awaits us after 2027 is a government with Feijóo as president and Abascal as vice president, and a group of ministers in Finance, Education, the Interior, and Infrastructure who will disagree on many issues, but who will quickly agree on using Catalonia and the Catalans as ammunition to cover up so much political misery. With this outlook, it's not hard to foresee the return of the old ways. How scary!