Feijóo plays his last bullet in Catalonia, “engine of the Spanish nation”

BadalonaAlberto Núñez Feijóo knows that this is his last bullet and that he will not have any others if he fails again. In fact, a harsh political assassination like that of Pablo Casado would await him, and the 'now or never' he paints for Spain also applies to him, even though the polls smile upon him, so it is most likely that he will be able to settle into the Moncloa after the general elections of November 29th. But he would do so despite his decline and thanks to the growth of Vox. For all these reasons, in these elections the PP leader did not want to commit the same mistakes as in the previous 2023 state campaign that mobilized the left and caused the most unexpected right-wing cataclysm. And that is why the campaign began this Thursday in Catalonia, from the sports center in the Llefià neighborhood of the Badalona stronghold of his Catalan candidate for Congress and mayor of the city, Xavier García Albiol. They are aware of the failure in the Principality in 2023 with 40 deputies for the Pedro Sánchez investiture bloc compared to 8 for the Spanish right – six of whom were from the PP. Thus, Feijóo said in front of 3,500 people that he wants Catalonia to be a “protagonist” of the change, he vindicated “the Catalonia that pushed Spain forward” and asserted that he wants “it to once again be the main engine of the Spanish nation”.

In this campaign, Feijóo has wanted to ignore half-measures and has left aside his more moderate temperament to cling to the hard wing of the party to try to plug the leak of votes towards Vox. This is why Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo is number two on the Madrid list and why the candidate for Barcelona is Albiol, who centers his campaign on the discourse of anti-immigration, insecurity, and the fight against illegal squatting. The anti-immigration component, in fact, has once again been key: the Galician leader said that “whoever comes to Spain must come to work, respect norms, and our language [Spanish] because, otherwise, coexistence will be impossible”, he said. And he added that “here there is no one who does not comply; one must respect women and LGBT people”.

Albiol has also shown his toughest face at the start of the campaign against squatters, against whom he has said he will go "after them," and against illegal immigration. "We have been able to see how the government is sending immigrants in an irregular situation to various parts of Catalonia. I demand that the distribution of irregular immigrants to Catalonia stop; we do not want those who enter irregularly to be offered three-star hotels with full board," he went as far as to say. This is the defense of the "interests of Catalonia," at a point where he appealed in Catalan to left-wingers and independence supporters. "We are not here to change anyone's ideology; whoever is left-wing or an independence supporter should continue to be left-wing or an independence supporter," he said, but noted that those who want to "prioritize the fight against illegal occupation, illegal immigration, and repeat offending" must vote for the PP.

Against Pedro Sánchez, Feijóo also dedicated a few words: he spoke of the "looting" by the Spanish government and promised an in-depth "audit" of spending. At the same time, he spoke of the investment in infrastructure that is needed for Catalonia, even though the PP also neglected it during the era of Mariano Rajoy, and he defended the "territorial integrity" of Spain in Ceuta.

Avalanche of errors

The Popular Party is aware that the start of the pre-campaign was quite erratic, with serious tangles regarding pensions – which leaders such as spokesperson Ester Muñoz said the system would "bust" –, abortion, constant slips, and a continuous drop in the polls. The Urda accident has turned the scenario upside down and Feijóo keeps insisting that he presents himself as a "manager" to steer the "national reconstruction" of Spain with urgent measures, but a "quiet" change. A change he wants to make tied to Vox and hoping that the Popular Party remains ahead of the PSOE, since before the train tragedy the trend could have led to the sorpasso of the socialists. The agreement between Vox and the PP to withdraw certain Senate candidacies – to consolidate the right-wing vote – and the public display by the Galician leader that they will make a pact to put an end to sanchismo leaves behind any rhetoric of governing alone, even though it remains the majority desire, albeit not a realistic one. The 137 deputies obtained three years ago would be signed off on in a heartbeat now due to the rise of Vox, which is causing them to lose steam.

Feijóo's recipe for Catalonia is merely fiscal – for citizens of the whole State – and infrastructure-related, while he bets on recentralization, the imposition of at least 50% Spanish in the classrooms, the symbolic repeal of the amnesty, the rejection of the financing improvement agreed with ERC, and the urgency to ban Catalan in Congress. "You cannot be president of Spain without understanding Catalonia," said Feijóo in an interview with La Vanguardia, but in these elections it is put to the test whether he has really understood it.

Albiol wants to run a tough campaign. On the first day of the official campaign, this Friday, he will kick things off with an event in front of a hotel in Lloret de Mar that houses migrants, according to the Popular Party. The goal is to "denounce" this situation and lash out against the alleged open borders that exist in Spain, according to party sources. During the campaign, he will also go to Figueres, Salt, Ripoll, or Lleida, settings they see as ideal for explaining his immigration message and disputing the vote, in this regard, both with Vox and Aliança, as well as with some sectors of the PSC. The PP is approaching the campaign with the logic of "hitting the streets" to obtain a result that improves upon the six seats obtained in Catalonia.

The PP also has an operation underway to court convergent voters, which will have an ally for this mission. Former CiU deputy Roger Montañola, former leader of Unió, will present the lecture that Albiol will give on the 24th as part of the events organized by Nueva Economía Forum with the candidates. It will be a gesture of support like the one that former president Artur Mas will make in the next fortnight for the presentation of the Junts candidate, Míriam Nogueras.

During the campaign, Albiol will not leave Catalonia, while Feijóo will campaign by touring the four Catalan provinces, as will his number two, Miguel Tellado, the Madrid president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and the MEP Dolors Montserrat.