The revolt sweeps in audience with Pedro Sánchez

BarcelonaComfortable and cheerful. Joking around during much of the interview on the RTVE program La Revuelta, Pedro Sánchez took advantage of every opening to lash out at the right and the far-right and boast about his government's work. The socialist candidate joked about the fact that the right constantly refers to him as "Perro Sanxe". Far from being offended, the Spanish president gifted 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 part of the program, he was stroking a stuffed dog. “For some things, they insult me, that’s fine by me,” he said.

He must be even happier this Friday to see the ratings. Pedro Sánchez's visit turned La Revuelta into the most-watched non-sports program of the year, with a 33.9% audience share and 4,387,000 viewers. In Catalonia, it achieved a 33% share (equivalent to an average of 571,000 followers). It should be noted that programs on Spanish channels usually have an ostensibly lower average here, because they feel the bite of TV3, which leads the ratings with 15%. The fact that the Catalan figure is practically the same as the Spanish one suggests a large following, in an electoral square that is particularly relevant for the PSOE.

During the interview, the Spanish president ironized about the criticisms and insults hurled at him by the right, which accuses him of constantly intervening in RTVE. When the host said that, perhaps, this was his last interview –especially given the poor results predicted by the polls–, Sánchez made fun of it and said that he will revalidate “four more years” in the Moncloa and, therefore, La Revuelta will continue on the Spanish public television schedule.

Sánchez, who remained optimistic the whole time, did not miss the opportunity to lash out at the PP, especially against former Spanish president José María Aznar, and even against the socialist Felipe González. “I do not feel identified with their opinions,” the PSOE leader stated while 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 bag and, although he admitted that "alternation is healthy," he declared that with Vox it is “regression”.

The Spanish Prime Minister also took the opportunity to boast about the government's work, 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 former minister José Luis Ábalos.

The socialist candidate also lamented that the Spanish judiciary has “crossed some red lines”, especially with 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 assured –without naming it explicitly– that the amnesty law has had an effect in Catalonia in terms of putting an end to the Process, something he believes has been demonstrated by the fact that the Generalitat is now governed by the socialist Salvador Illa.

Sánchez praised the Esquerra candidate, Gabriel Rufián, and assured that he is a "good parliamentarian", even though "he is the candidate of an independentist party". He also lamented the tug-of-war and the lack of unity among the forces to the left of the PSOE. Despite this, he opined that these discussions "are already a past page" and called on 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 who 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 to interview all the presidential candidates. "I accept with pleasure," the former mayor of Barcelona tweeted.

Regarding 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, also a socialist, Óscar Puente: this Wednesday he attended Marc Giró's program, Late Xou, where he coincided with press journalist Rosa Maria Patiño in a golf cart.