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

GavàIt does not matter the crisis in Ceuta, the drop in the polls, or the judicial investigations that beset the Spanish Prime Minister. The PSC stands by Pedro Sánchez, from the President of the Generalitat to the rank and file. The support is absolute and the fandom is noisy. The thousands of attendees at the Festa de la Rosa 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 interrupted. Salvador Illa's speech, which focused largely on praising the PSOE leader, was also accompanied by shouts and applause for, above all, the Spanish President. Everyone wanted to hear Pedro. When his turn finally arrived, there were reproaches among followers for everyone to sit down and be able to 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." Simply The Best played, and Sánchez said goodbye amidst more chants of "president, president" and "you are not alone, you are not alone".

Thus, in the midst of the Ceuta crisis, the PSC did not fail the PSOE leader and injected him with a good dose of self-esteem at the beginning of the political year. "Catalonia is your home," Salva repeated to him, which is how Sánchez addressed the President of the Generalitat. Illa, who is one of the greatest supporters of the President of Spain, reviewed the work of the Moncloa and highlighted, for example, the "progressive leadership he exercises in Europe" or that the amnesty has returned "coexistence" to Catalonia and overcome the "confrontation" of the Procés. However, for the PSC leader, the most important thing is not the past, but the future. And, as usual, he predicted two completely opposing possible scenarios. "Either Sánchez or Trump, either Sánchez or Putin, either Sánchez or Netanyahu, either Sánchez or human rights, either Sánchez or Abascal, Aznar and Feijóo. That is the question," Illa contrasted.

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 carrying out "a new act of disloyalty" against the government and the interests of Spain "in the face of every crisis," and he appropriated a phrase from the former Popular Party president Mariano Rajoy to attack the PP and Vox. "The worse, the better; that's what they think," said Sánchez, laughing.

The leader of the PSOE, however, has tiptoed around the Ceuta crisis and has 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 implicate 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 is rejected by the Spanish and Catalan right wing. "It is incomprehensible not to accept it," added Sánchez, who promised the Catalans that "they will have the money." Although the Spanish Prime Minister also did not speak about the official status of Catalan in the European Union, Illa has once again demanded it and insisted that the Spanish right wing stop pressuring Brussels and European governments to have it approved.

Both socialist leaders also showed themselves to be skeptical about the objectives of the visits by the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and of Vox, Santiago Abascal, during these last few days in Catalonia. Illa described them as a "marriage" and, ironically, criticized that they had come just the weekend that the Rose Festival is celebrated, which Sánchez was scheduled to attend. He was especially harsh with the popular leader, who visited our home just after the far-right leader. "Alberto, you never disappoint, you are always late," said the PSC leader, who demanded that they present "projects for Catalonia" and stop "obstructing" the work of the Moncloa and the Government.

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 has said that Feijóo lives "subjugated" to Ayuso, dedicated part of his speech to the controversy related to the Popular Party 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 or cutting public services. Illa also criticized Ayuso for lowering taxes, especially in comparison to the rest of the autonomous communities, and insisted on his support for the Spanish Prime Minister. "Authoritarians of the world, Abascals, Feijóo or the Aznar of the day: you will lose, you will not win, Pedro Sánchez will defeat you," proclaimed Illa at the start of a political term in which municipal and Spanish elections will be held.