The PSC's struggle in the red belt to avoid the leak to Vox and ERC

TerrassaThe PSC remains hegemonic in the red belt, and wants to avoid it being tinged with other colors. This metropolitan region can play a decisive role in the future of Pedro Sánchez at the Moncloa and, despite it being a historic fiefdom of socialism, polls suggest that seats could slip away to Vox and to the Left of Gabriel Rufián. It is no coincidence, then, that the socialist party is carrying out a major campaign deployment in this area and has filled its agenda with rallies in L'Hospitalet, Terrassa, Sabadell, and Santa Coloma de Gramenet, among others. The goal is to avoid losing deputies to the far right and the republicans, and socialist ranks maintain the hope of repeating or even improving upon the 19 deputies that the PSC obtained in the previous Spanish elections.

The PSC's own head of the list for Barcelona, Jordi Hereu, does not hide the importance and electoral weight of the red belt. He began the event this morning in the city of Terrassa saying that “these regions embody the essence” of the socialist project, “their values, where they come from and where they want to go”. The current acting Minister of Industry and Tourism has also appealed to the “working-class essence” of the metropolitan region so that now, in a context of deindustrialization and the rise of the far right across Europe, former socialist voters do not opt for the Vox ballot. “We are the chimneys of the 19th-century factories,” he said, referring to the industrial facilities that are preserved in Terrassa and throughout the province as a reminder of “this beautiful idea that is the worker sentiment”.

In fact, the main socialist darts are directed primarily against the party of Santiago Abascal. Hereu and the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, repeat at the rallies the message that Vox puts “in danger” the self-government of Catalonia, the Catalan language, and the social welfare system as “had not happened in the last 50 years”. “They want to destroy everything,” warned the former mayor of Barcelona this Tuesday. And, at the same time, they take the opportunity to position themselves as the only political formation that can guarantee the current pension system and that can solve the housing crisis by intervening in the sector. “The market does not guarantee rights,” he added.

Criticisms of Rufián

Beyond Vox, which has long been their favorite target, Hereu and Illa have also raised the tone against the alliance of Gabriel Rufián and Podemos leader, Irene Montero, in view of the fear that it could snatch voters from them. Some polls, such as that of ARA, indicate that Esquerra is getting closer to the PSC, and this is largely due to the growth of the republicans in the red belt. According to the latest barometer of the Center for Opinion Studies (CEO), the socialists have a vote flight of up to 11% towards ERC, while in reverse the percentage is three points lower, at 8%.

The main reproaches point out that Rufián has divided the forces to the left of the PSOE and that he is too critical of Sánchez's government. "They use a tone that surprises me a bit," Illa complained this Saturday. Thus, the president of the Generalitat has promised that they will not let themselves be "subjected" to any political force – just as Rufián and Montero claim they want to do – and that they do not need to be "dragged" by anyone, not even to push through measures like the labor reform against which ERC voted. On the other hand, both Hereu and Illa dedicate kinder words to the Broad Front (Front Ampli), which polls place well below the 2023 general elections.

Be that as it may, the socialist leaders are calling for mobilization and for concentrating the progressive vote in the PSC. And, on this point, Illa has already explained on more than one occasion the story of a neighbor who told him that, despite being "very, very much to the left" and having always voted to the left of the PSOE, this time she will opt for the socialist ballot because they are the ones who can "guarantee" another Sánchez government. "Look at what kind of political strategy that is," the president reflected.

The first round of the municipal elections

The PSC is taking advantage of the campaign to promote the candidates for the municipal elections in May of next year and, for this reason, it has also chosen symbolic cities for Catalan socialism to hold its rallies. However, despite the almost absolute hegemony it has in the metropolitan region, Terrassa is one of the few cities that resists it, and it is a reminder of the trauma that the 'Procés' caused for the socialist ranks. Ever since the current mayor, Jordi Ballart, left the PSC in 2017, they have not recovered the mayorship of Terrassa. Even so, Illa has already presented the leader of the Terrassa PSC, Javi García, as the next mayor of the city.