The left activates survival mode to avoid a debacle

BarcelonaThe electoral pre-campaign has been blown to pieces. Until the accident in Toledo, what we had was a comeback for the PSOE that, even if it might not have been enough to break the PP-Vox majority, was enough to put Alberto Núñez Feijóo in a bad spot and weaken his leadership. Now the PSOE and the left have no choice but to activate survival mode to prevent the conservative wave from running them over. And this opens up the range of other multiple battles.

The first of these battles will be within the PSOE, depending on the election results. A collapse for Pedro Sánchez will not only end with him out of politics, but will also reopen the debate within the party about the future of Sanchismo. Sánchez has many enemies waiting to see his political corpse pass by in the street (with Felipe González and Emiliano García-Page in the front row), and only a good result could shield him.

The second battle is between the PP and Vox, as Núñez Feijóo now has the opportunity to achieve a resounding result that reinforces him against Santiago Abascal and also against Isabel Díaz Ayuso. Furthermore, it is not clear that the far-right will profit from its decision to maintain the pre-campaign in the midst of mourning for the victims. The PP has played its cards much better in this crisis.

The third one is fought between the Broad Front and Podemos, the two movements that are disputing hegemony to the left of the PSOE. Ada Colau's gesture of lashing out at Minister Puente must be read especially in this key. It is no longer about selling oneself as the best partner for the PSOE, but rather as the best party to oppose a PP and Vox government.

Rufián-Nogueras duel

The fourth battle is between ERC and Junts in Catalonia and between the PNV and Bildu in the Basque Country. The hegemony of the independence movement is at stake. In Catalonia, the duel between Gabriel Rufián and Miriam Nogueras is especially interesting, precisely because they represent opposite models of the country. Rufián will have to fight against the useful vote for the socialists and Nogueras against the passivity of her electorate, which is increasingly leaning to the right and seduced by AC. Whoever wins, however, will emerge much stronger internally. And vice versa as well.

Minister Óscar Puente has been the great protagonist of the week. What is not as well known is that his press secretary, Pere Rostoll, was also press secretary to Ximo Puig when he was the Valencian president, and that he will be the PSPV candidate in the next municipal elections in the town of Benidorm. Rostoll is one of the architects of Puente's media profile.

Electoral lists are always a source of surprises. For example, the actor Patxi Freytez, known for his roles in series such as El comisario or Amar es para siempre, is number 1 for Podemos on the lists for the Senate for Madrid. Freytez was born in Pamplona in 1967, but he grew up in Logroño and moved to Madrid when he was young to pursue a career as an actor.