The PP chooses Albiol as an antidote to Vox on 11-29

BarcelonaEnthusiasm in the Catalan PP for who will be enthroned this Sunday as the PP candidate for Barcelona in the upcoming Spanish elections. The mayor of Badalona, Xavier García Albiol, has been selected as the Populars' candidate for Barcelona with the fundamental task of being the antidote to Vox, especially considering the great growth of the radical right-wing party in the Principality. Once the elections were brought forward, it immediately became clear that the most beloved person within the Catalan PP is Albiol. Furthermore, La Vanguardia was already pointing out that the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, was considering betting on him as a candidate.

In the Catalan PP executive committee this Thursday, the choice was already fully assumed, especially in hallway conversations among high-ranking officials. And after ARA reported that Albiol would be the candidate, this Saturday, a few hours later, the party confirmed it with a tweet on its official account. "A high-level signing for a Spain that needs people with clear ideas," the Populars wrote in the announcement of the head of the list. Subsequently, Albiol informed that Feijóo had asked him to be the candidate and that he accepted this responsibility "with pride, enthusiasm, and an enormous sense of commitment." He also made it clear that he will continue to be the mayor of Badalona and that his commitment of "present and future to my city remains intact." "Now I want to bring the voice of Badalona and the rest of the municipalities of Catalonia to the Congress of Deputies, to defend issues that directly affect our neighbors: ending illegal occupations, combating multi-recidivism, and controlling irregular immigration," he added.

"All the focus on Barcelona", summarize some sources consulted about Albiol's appointment, who emphasize that "he is the right person and the most media-friendly", with "a forceful speech to compete with Vox" in areas such as immigration, illegal occupations, and the fight against crime, as the head of the list has already anticipated with his announcement. "Albiol would be a great candidate", the Catalan leader, Alejandro Fernández, went as far as to state in an interview this Friday on RTVE.

Publicly, Albiol had repeatedly defended that everything depended on Feijóo and, without closing any doors, had reaffirmed his commitment as mayor of his city. "I will help my party in everything it asks of me that is compatible with the mayoralty", he stated again this Friday in Elche, although he assured that the Galician leader had not yet called him. The position of candidate is not incompatible with the role of state deputy, although due to his defense of "Badalonism" outside of ideologies, he has already received a flood of criticism from the opposition.

Several Catalan leaders point out that "he is the best" that could be chosen, and the state leadership has valued from the first moment his profile as the ideal one to replace a Nacho Martín Blanco who will not repeat. As for the rest of the Barcelona list, it will be marked by whether Feijóo listens to the requests of the various families. For some time now, the Alejandrista Dani Serrano has been mentioned as a future state deputy for Barcelona. Roger Melero for Lleida, Diana Moya for Girona, and Mónica Landete for Tarragona will be the heads of the list in the other three districts, as the PP also announced this Saturday.

Revulsive?

The PP trusts that Albiol will be the catalyst in a context of growth for Vox, which is obtaining votes from working-class and socialist strongholds, and in which there is 20% of potential voters for Aliança Catalana. Albiol obtained 50,000 votes and 55.7% in the Badalona municipal elections—which allowed him to be elected with an absolute majority—but the percentage plummeted to 16.6% and 16,400 votes in the last general elections, in which in Badalona, between the left and the independence movement, they gathered almost three out of every four votes.