Abascal lands in Girona with the mayor of Perpignan and verses by Joan Maragall

GironaSantiago Abascal returns to Catalonia and does so to step on the gas in the operation to hunt for the coveted seat in Girona, a Catalanist stronghold that not even the PP has managed to secure since the elections fifteen years ago, with the victory of Mariano Rajoy. In an event at the city's Congress Palace, with the presence and public support of the mayor of Perpignan, Louis Aliot, characterized by his anti-Catalanism and for being a pillar of the far-right party National Rally, Abascal has set the priority of strengthening the demographic trends, surrounded by more than a thousand people. "A benchmark for all of us, a neighbor from very close by. Bienvenue à Gérone", said the provincial president of Girona, Alberto Tarradas, about Aliot, who spoke in Catalan in front of Abascal, just like the head of the list for the constituency, the former Platform for Catalonia member Ignasi Mulleras. "Common sense and locals first," the three defended.

The ear muffs in Congress that have bothered Abascal's team so much have ceased to be a public concern and Catalan has been a prominent language at an event focused on the defense of the "Catalan identity," one of the pillars of the Vox campaign that Abascal is exploiting. Even Mulleras said that at the event there were people who had voted for nationalists, specifically CiU, and who have a "concern for the survival of our land" and the identity of the country. The climax came when Mulleras, who is also a councilor in Roses, cited the Oda a Espanya, by Joan Maragall, quoting that well-known plea: "Listen to the voice of a son who speaks to you in a non-Castilian language", he said, emphasizing that they had spoken to him too much in Castilian, in Spain, in the words of the poet.

Increase in votes

If the right and the extreme right manage to add up in Spain, just as the bulk of the polls predict, it is because Vox is growing in constituencies where it previously did not have much to do. Until recently, Catalonia was hostile territory, but it may cease to be so and become the place where Vox grows the most, aspiring to convince everyone from PSOE voters to Aliança supporters, in addition to the particular battle on the right flank with an Alberto Núñez Feijóo's PP that is weakened.

Vox sources have long emphasized that Girona is the party's great growth objective and that they stopped seeing the acquisition of a deputy for the first time as impossible. They also see it as feasible in Tarragona –where the seat is even more likely and where Abascal will precisely land this Wednesday, the day of the general strike called by the main unions–. These two demarcations, together with the growth of one or two seats in Barcelona, are the lever that the radical right needs to consolidate itself. Abascal will confirm his commitment to the Catalan seats on Sunday at an event in Cornellà de Llobregat.

Three times in one week, but several visits in recent months. In fact, Girona was the capital that had remained pending for Abascal on the route he took in mid-September in the midst of a pre-election climate: he visited Barcelona, Tarragona, and Lleida, the place where they currently have it most complicated. Previously, the Vox leader had spent three years without coming to Catalonia for a party event, precisely since the 2023 elections.

the route he took in mid-September in the midst of a pre-election climate: he visited Barcelona, Tarragona, and Lleida, the place where they currently have it most complicated. Previously, the Vox leader had spent three years without coming to Catalonia for a party event, precisely since the 2023 elections.