"Perro Sanxe" reappears in the campaign

BarcelonaComfortable and cheerful. Joking for a good part of the interview on the RTVE program La revuelta, Pedro Sánchez took advantage of every opportunity to attack the right and the far-right and boast about the work of the government. The socialist candidate joked about the fact that the right constantly refers to him as "Perro Sanxe". Far from being offended, the Spanish president gave David Broncano a toy dog with a red cape and, afterwards, put on a badge with the words "Perro Sanxe" and a red heart. Furthermore, during a part of the program, he petted a stuffed dog. "If for some things they insult me, that's fine by me," he said.

The Spanish president ironized about the criticisms and insults thrown at him by the right, which accuses him of constantly intervening in RTVE. When the presenter said that, perhaps, this was his last interview –especially given the poor results predicted by the polls–, Sánchez mocked it and said that he will revalidate "four more years" at the Moncloa and, therefore, La revuelta will continue on the schedule of the Spanish public television.

Sánchez, who remained optimistic the whole time, did not miss the opportunity to attack the PP, especially former Spanish president José María Aznar, and even the socialist Felipe González. "I do not feel identified with their opinions," the PSOE leader said, laughing. He also attacked the international far-right, especially the Argentine president, Javier Milei, and his connections with Vox. In fact, on several occasions, Sánchez put the PP and the far-right in the same basket and, although he admitted that "alternation is healthy," he said that with Vox it is "devolution."

The president of the Spanish government also took the opportunity to boast about the work of the government, especially regarding the good macroeconomic figures of the State. On the other hand, he stated that the black mark that weighs most heavily on him is the "corruption" of some of his main collaborators, such as the former minister José Luis Ábalos.

The Spanish president also lamented that the Spanish judiciary has “crossed some red lines”, especially regarding his wife, Begoña Gómez, and his brother, David Sánchez, and pointed out that he would like to end the judicialization of politics in the State, just as he considers he has achieved in Catalonia. On this point, he also assured –without naming it explicitly– that the amnesty law has had an effect in Catalonia in putting an end to the 'Procés', something he considers has been demonstrated by the fact that the Generalitat is now governed by the socialist Salvador Illa.

Sánchez also praised the Esquerra candidate, Gabriel Rufián, and said he is a "good parliamentarian", even though "he is the candidate of an independence party". He also lamented the bickering and the lack of unity of the forces to the left of the PSOE. Even so, he said that these discussions "are now a past page" and made a call to citizens to go to the polls to vote for the PSOE and the progressive forces.

The shows begin

Sánchez is not the only candidate who is in the middle of the pre-campaign and is already touring sets and media outlets. The rest of the presidential candidates have also begun to publicly accept interview requests. In fact, the Broad Front candidate, Ada Colau, has written on social media that she is also willing to go on Broncano's program on TVE, which has offered all presidential candidates the chance to be interviewed there. "I accept with pleasure," the former mayor of Barcelona tweeted.

As for the rest of the guests, for the moment they have not accepted –at least publicly– the invitation from what is one of the most-watched programs on state television. The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, have accepted the interview request from the youtuber Jordi Wild, who has more than seven million subscribers and an editorial line leaning to the right. Colau will also go there, having returned to X nine years later to announce it. The only one who has not yet spoken on the matter is the president of the Spanish government.

Beyond the presidential candidates, there are other candidates who are also intensifying their agenda on media programs. One of the most recent cases has been that of the Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, the fellow socialist Óscar Puente: this Wednesday he attended Marc Giró's program, Cara al show, where he coincided with press journalist Rosa Maria Patiño in a golf cart.