Sánchez spurs the PSOE by hoisting the flag of Spain: "Long live the mothers who gave birth to us"

AlcorcónFifteen minutes before the PSOE event in Alcorcón started, there was an unease running through the line to enter the Los Cantos Sports Center. Half a kilometer of people waiting. “Will we be able to get in?”, asked the socialists who were queuing. “Make sure it looks good on TV”, says one of the women. “I wish there were 40,000 of us left outside”, comments another man. In fact, at 8:30 in the morning there were people waiting. One of the security officials acknowledges that the PSOE's strategy these days is to bring more people than can fit to overflow the facilities. So much so that an annex pavilion had to be set up and many people had to stand. Two of those waiting are José María and Carmen, a married couple from Alcorcón. They have been queuing for an hour and a half and do not know if they will be able to enter. “It doesn't matter, I wanted to see the atmosphere”, she admits. “I had never seen anything like this, I am satisfied with this”, he celebrates. They have voted for the PSOE all their lives, but they confess that on November 29th they would have liked to be able to pick up Gabriel Rufián's ballot.

After the usual initial crowd bath, Sánchez starred in an unprecedented image to start the rally. He asked for a Spanish flag from one of the young people behind him, began to wave it and, microphone in hand skipping the event's schedule, he boasted about the flag. “This is our flag. The flag of the Spanish Constitution, of democracy, of rights, of equality, of women, of territorial diversity, of our grandfathers and grandmothers who fought for democracy and the flag of the people's strength”, he proclaimed. He acted as his own opening act: “Welcome to the rally, let's begin”.

During the event, which was intended to present the PSOE's electoral manifesto, Pedro Sánchez called for a “historic mobilization” to achieve an “epic comeback” and summarized some of the measures proposed by the socialists for November 29th. “An appetizer of what we will do over the next four years,” he claimed. Among other things, he promised “more taxes” for people and companies that have empty homes or “unaffordable rental prices.” He also proposed creating a new benefit for the care of children under eight years of age for four weeks. Likewise, the program includes direct aid of 200 euros for basic oral health treatments, a “legal recognition” of “bonds of friendship between people who assume a mutual commitment of care,” or an “improvement” in taxation for middle and lower incomes, for example, by keeping the minimum interprofessional wage exempt from income tax (IRPF).

The PSOE leader also took the opportunity to mock Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who on Friday once again acknowledged that he does not know how to speak English. “Alberto, I agree with you that the President of the Government of Spain must know English,” he said. And he referred to the victory of Lula da Silva in Brazil and the Democrats in the United States: “If they could, why shouldn't Spain be able to?”, he asked. And the pavilion responded with shouts of “Yes we can”, the proclamation that Podemos exploited. Tomorrow, a meeting is scheduled between Pedro Sánchez and Lula da Silva, who was also supposed to participate in a PSOE event, but it had to be suspended due to the Brazilian president’s loss of voice.

His parents in the second row

This time, the guest artists in the background were Pedro Sánchez's parents. Magdalena Pérez-Castejón and Pedro Sánchez. They are in the second row and are the most sought-after while waiting for their son. All the ministers come by to greet them. Minister Isabel Rodríguez asks the father if his back is better. Later, the mother goes directly to find Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska and starts dancing with him. When the Spanish president enters the pavilion and greets the attendees, his parents watch the screen with pride.

There were suspicions as to whether his mother would take to the stage in another attempt to humanize the campaign and respond to the right's shouts insulting the Spanish president. "Long live the mothers who gave birth to us," Pedro Sánchez even proclaimed. Three days ago, Begoña Gómez spoke at an event in Seville and Sánchez talked about his daughters in two interviews. But in the end, there was no cameo.