The PP maintains absolute majority in Galicia and saves Feijóo's leadership

MadridOur day will come, could be read on Saturday in the animation stand of the Balaídos stadium in the match between Celta and Barça. With dozens of flags  

Galicia went to the polls in a regional election for the first time in a long time. Participation was record-breaking, around 67%, and contrary to what progressive forces predicted, it did not serve to tip the scales to the other side. Their main message was to assure the left-wing electorate to abandon abstentionism, that this time it was possible to dislodge the PP from the Xunta. However, there was not as much mobilization as in the general elections – it was 73.1% – and, in any case, it did not harm the PP. In fact, with 47.4%, Rueda obtained a percentage of votes only six tenths below Feijóo's four years ago and higher than the PP leader obtained on 23-J (43.5%). By provinces, Rueda lost one seat in Lugo and one in A Coruña.

“We don't want blackmail”

“Thank you very much. I will be a calm president for those who have voted for me and for those who have not. Galicia sends a message to Spain: we do not want blackmail, nor to do it, nor to be subjected to it. We do not want privileges, neither for ourselves nor for the rest”, Rueda stated, referring to the PSOE's alliances with separatism in the State. The winner appeared at the party headquarters in Santiago de Compostel·la while "Xuntos" was playing, the song by Juan Pardo that Familia Caamagno has reinterpreted. 

The conservative party has benefited from stoking the fear of a government presided over by the BNG, which it has sought to place alongside EH Bildu and Carles Puigdemont. The PP presented a narrative with a state-wide focus during the campaign that broke with the previous dynamic of focusing only on Galicia, but it has not backfired. Neither has Feijóo's blunder with the alleged pardon for Puigdemont. “It was media noise that was not internal”, assure sources from Génova, who downplay the matter and do not say if the PP leader would have been in a delicate situation had he lost. “If it was a referendum, Feijóo wins and [Pedro] Sánchez loses”, they emphasize. The PP leadership, euphoric, congratulated Rueda by videoconference and the number 2, Cuca Gamarra, urged Sánchez to make a "deep reflection".

The worst results for the PSOE

The PSOE obtains its worst historical results, with 9 deputies and 14% of the votes. The candidate, José Ramón Gómez Besteiro, has not succeeded and has been relegated behind the figure of Ana Pontón, who has finally fallen far short of the presidency. The socialists lose one seat in A Coruña, two in Pontevedra, and two in Ourense, where the local candidacy Democracia Ourensana enters the Galician Parliament for the first time. It had been speculated whether it could be key to tipping majorities, but it will finally be a testimonial presence. The fall of the PSOE is compensated by the BNG, which wins two seats in A Coruña and Pontevedra, one in Lugo, and another in Ourense, thus strengthening itself as the main opposition party. "We are the hope of everyone who thinks Galicia needs more," resigned Pontón, who also showed herself "disappointed" by an "insufficient" result.

The results show that the progressive forces have increased their percentage of votes: from the 43.2% that BNG and PSOE combined four years ago, they have now reached 45.5%, which is slightly higher if we add the 1.9% and 0.25% collected by Sumar and Podem, respectively. In this regard, if there is a clear face of defeat after this electoral event, it is that of Yolanda Díaz. The leader of Sumar had promoted her right-hand woman as a candidate, Marta Lois, suffering a resounding blow by falling outside the parliamentary sphere. The second vice-president of the Spanish government, who has avoided self-criticism, did not achieve a joint candidacy with Podem, and the rise of the BNG has completely eclipsed Sumar, which has not come close to the necessary 5% in any of the four provinces. In A Coruña, where Díaz is originally from – she is from Ferrol – she has remained at 2.2%. To top it off, she has obtained fewer overall supports than Vox, anecdotal in a community where the right concentrates its vote on the PP. And Podem has been left behind Pacma.

One of the important consequences of these elections could be the external vote. Galicia is the community in the State with the most residents abroad registered in the census and, following the elimination of the postal vote, it could become a key factor. On July 23rd, it was already confirmed that the loss of the diaspora's voting habit was difficult to recover, and this time the external participation remained at 6.15%, five points more than four years ago but far from the records that had been seen before bureaucratic obstacles were put in place for voters living abroad. The 29,300 votes from the CERA will still need to be counted from the 26th to define the final result, although it will not have an impact on the majorities. Rueda claims victory in Galicia and Feijóo breathes a sigh of relief in Madrid.