Feijóo commissions Albiol to lead the anti-occupation law in the State: "On 29-N we have to choose between Colau or him"

BarcelonaAware that to reach the Moncloa he needs to achieve a good result in Catalonia, where 48 of the 350 seats at stake are distributed, the PP candidate, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has returned to Barcelona in what is his third visit in just one month. In the first pre-campaign event, the Popular Party's presidential hopeful has surrounded himself with the party's top brass in Catalonia to try to curb the rise of Vox.

The latest CEO poll, which was made public this week, did not give them the results they are looking for. The PP would be limited to retaining the six deputies it obtained in 2023 and at most could win one more, while Santiago Abascal's party would skyrocket and go from the two it has now to five or six. The appointment as candidate of the mayor of Badalona, Xavier Garcia Albiol, a bulwark against irregular immigration, aims to reverse this trend.

And Feijóo has taken advantage of his landing in Catalonia to commission Albiol to lead the anti-squatting law in the State and be the rapporteur in Congress. He defended this at the Popular Party's pre-campaign event in Barcelona, at the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya, in front of hundreds of the conservatives' militants and supporters. “You will draft it and we will pass it, zero tolerance for squatters, whom we will throw out in 48 hours, maximum protection for the honest citizen,” the PP candidate declared. "Colau or Albiol: this is the country we are gambling on November 29th," he warned the Catalan attendees. 

Under the slogan "Finally", in reference to the long-awaited electoral call, Feijóo has made a call to make change possible by establishing himself as the useful vote and has demanded that no center-right vote in Catalonia "can serve to extend the life" of the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, in allusion to Junts. Thus, he recalled that in the last elections they were on the verge of being able to achieve a majority (with the support of Vox and other right-wing parties) and that it was not possible by a small margin. "We were four seats short of governing and two were in Catalonia, by a few hundred votes (363) we did not achieve a seat in Girona, and neither in Lleida", although in that constituency they were short by more than 3,500.

Feijóo has taken advantage of the scandals besetting the PSOE to demand change. "Pensions, yes, of course. Jewels in safes, no. Public healthcare, yes. Sausages, no. Public education, yes. Bribes, no. Housing, yes. Apartments for a minister's lovers, no," he pointed out. In this sense, he also lashed out against the dismissal of the PSOE spokesperson, Montse Mínguez: "They must see it very badly to make the spokesperson resign, who is one of the few who was not under investigation, despite being a hypocrite".

Thus, he described Sánchez as "the master of lies" and as having "a concrete face, the kind used to build the housing he hasn't built". In a speech without concessions, the presidential candidate accused the PSOE of deceiving the citizenry. "They cover up the lies about Morocco with housing and then they cover up the lies about housing with pensions, they cover up lies with more lies". "Decency yes, Sánchez no", he concluded.

Albiol: "I am not coming to warm a chair"

Xavier Garcia Albiol, the head of the Popular Party's list, has thanked Feijóo for the trust and said that he hopes to "be up to the task," in a nod to the announcement of his appointment where it was highlighted that he was a high-profile signing. "I am the mayor of the fourth largest city in Catalonia and I govern with an absolute majority, and if I take this step, it is to give voice to the real problems of the citizens of Catalonia, not to warm a seat, because the problems of the people of Badalona are the same as in the rest of Catalonia," he said.

In a speech where he also used Catalan, Albiol asked to be able to "live in tranquility, which is the project we defend." "President, I know that you need the trust of Catalonia to govern, and we will work so that they get to know you and do not regret trusting you, because Catalans and Galicians are not so different," he said, amidst the laughter of the audience. "You have achieved one majority after another, and this demonstrates the trust you have cultivated, and now it is necessary to recover the dignity that this country deserves," he concluded.

The president of the PP in Catalonia, Alejandro Fernández, has congratulated Feijóo for naming Albiol as a candidate, who was cheered with shouts of “mayor, mayor”. “Albiol is the best candidate because he does not have to promise anything because he does what he says against squats or for security”. “Political change in Spain is especially necessary in Catalonia and will be positive for Catalonia because it will facilitate access to housing, lower the tax burden and bring regulated immigration”, he remarked. Fernández has accused Sánchez of “dividing society, causing a very deep wound” and has urged the popular parish to convince the undecided to make the change possible.