The PSC injects self-esteem into Sánchez: "I will govern until 2031 and beyond"

GavàIt matters little the crisis in Ceuta, the decline in the polls, and the judicial investigations that are besieging the president of the Spanish government. The PSC stands by Pedro Sánchez, from the president of the Generalitat to the rank and file. The support is absolute and the audience is noisy. The thousands of attendees at the Rose Festival would not even let the mayor of Gavà, Gemma Badia, who opened the event, speak. "President, president... You are not alone, you are not alone," they shouted. Salvador Illa's speech, which focused largely on praising the PSOE leader, was also accompanied by clamor and applause dedicated above all to the Spanish president. Everyone wanted to hear Pedro. When, at last, his turn came, some people in the audience asked everyone to sit down so they could see him better. The great protagonist of the evening did not disappoint them and promised that he would not throw in the towel: "I will govern until 2031 and beyond." The best, by Tina Turner, and Sánchez said goodbye amidst more chants of "president, president" and "you are not alone, you are not alone".

The PSC did not fail the PSOE leader in the midst of the Ceuta crisis and injected him with a good dose of self-esteem at the start of the political year. "Catalonia is your home," repeated Salva, which is how Sánchez addressed the president of the Generalitat. Illa, who is one of the Spanish president's biggest supporters, reviewed the work of the Moncloa and highlighted, for example, the "progressive leadership he exercises in Europe" and that the amnesty has returned "coexistence" to Catalonia and has allowed for overcoming the "confrontation" of the Procés. However, for the PSC leader, the most important thing is not the past, but the future of a political year that will be marked by electoral dates. And, as usual, he predicted two completely opposing possible scenarios. "Either Sánchez or Trump, or Sánchez or Putin, or Sánchez or Netanyahu, or Sánchez or human rights, or Sánchez or Abascal, Aznar and Feijóo. That is the question," said Illa.

The Spanish president picked up the gauntlet and also contrasted himself with the right and the far-right, which he always puts in the same bag. He reproached them for "in the face of every crisis" staging "a new disloyalty" against the government and the interests of Spain, and he appropriated a phrase from the former Popular Party president Mariano Rajoy to attack the PP and Vox. "The worse, the better; that is what they think," said Sánchez laughing.

The PSOE leader, however, tiptoed around the Ceuta crisis and limited himself to saying that the State has allocated unprecedented investments to the autonomous city in North Africa. He also avoided making any reference to the corruption scandals that are splashing the socialists. Instead, he fervently defended the "coexistence" between Catalans and Spaniards that the amnesty has brought, and the benefits of the new regional financing agreed upon with Esquerra, which the Spanish and Catalan right-wing parties reject. "It is incomprehensible not to accept it," added Sánchez, who promised the Catalans that "they will have the money." "The Spanish government will be there for the forgiveness of regional debt and with the regional financing proposal," added the Spanish president.

Although the PSOE leader did not speak about the official status of Catalan in the European Union either, Illa reclaimed it again and insisted that the Spanish right stop pressuring Brussels and European governments to approve it, just before the EU General Affairs ministerial meeting that will be held this Tuesday where the initiative will be discussed again. "Will you admit once and for all that the amnesty has worked? Will you work so that Catalan is official in Europe?", the president of the Generalitat rhetorically asked the Spanish right.

The two socialist leaders were also skeptical about the objectives of the visits to Catalonia by the leaders of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and Vox, Santiago Abascal, during these last few days. Illa described them as a "marriage" and, ironically, criticized that they had come just the weekend the Festa de la Rosa is celebrated, where Sánchez's attendance was already planned. He was especially harsh with the popular leader, who visited our home just after the one from the extreme right. "Alberto, you never disappoint, you are always late," the PSC leader told him, demanding that they present "projects for Catalonia" and stop "obstructing" the work of the Moncloa and the Government. Sánchez also accused them of riding in the "same car" and "sharing the same route and prejudices," especially when it comes to "disrespecting," generating "confrontation," or opting for privatizations.

The alternative to Ayuso

Sánchez has sought to position himself above all as the alternative to the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. The Spanish Prime Minister, who said that Feijóo lives "subjugated" to Ayuso, dedicated part of his speech to the controversy related to the popular leader's penthouse –"the PP's housing policy is that of Ayuso's penthouse," he said– and accused her, among other things, of manipulating waiting lists at health centers and cutting public services. Illa also criticized Ayuso for lowering taxes, especially in comparison with the rest of the autonomous communities, and insisted on his support for the Spanish Prime Minister." "Authoritarians of the world, Abascals, Feijós or Aznars of the day: you will lose, you will not win, Pedro Sánchez will defeat you," proclaimed Illa at the beginning of a political year in which municipal and Spanish elections will be held. A similar cry with which Sánchez ended his speech. "We will win the municipal elections in May and the general elections of 2027," exclaimed the Spanish Prime Minister.