"They've turned Madrid into a casino": Sánchez attacks the PP and urges Junts not to join the "blockade"

MadridPedro Sánchez was scheduled to appear before the Congress of Deputies this Wednesday to report on the latest international summits, his fight against corruption—at the request of the People's Party (PP)—and the state of public services. However, he transformed the session into an attack on Alberto Núñez Feijóo's party and its governance, along with Vox, in most autonomous communities. He also appealed to Junts to reconsider its decision to secede. Sánchez's intervention aimed to establish the following framework: that the PP and Vox's governance is costing lives in the autonomous communities they govern, while they engage in a "destructive opposition beholden to the far right" in Congress. In this regard, he asked Junts not to "subscribe" to this strategy of "blocking" the Spanish Parliament. Although he did not explicitly mention Carles Puigdemont's party, his message was clear. He questioned why some of the laws that Junts had proposed last week should be overturned. announced that he would veto"What reason is there to block the family law or the universal healthcare law?", Sánchez asked, taking a jab at the party led in the Congress of Deputies by Míriam Nogueras. Thus, he urged them to return to the "spirit of the agreement." Furthermore, he boasted of the "social peace" he claims has been achieved by his government, both in Catalonia and throughout Spain, and reiterated his certainty that he will serve out his term despite the withdrawal of support from the Junts party. Sánchez spoke of the elections on the 2nd, stating that by then, the amnesty will be fully implemented. This was a nod to Junts, considering that former president Carles Puigdemont has been in exile for eight years. The Junts spokesperson in Congress, the visible face of the Junts party in Madrid, not only reproached Sánchez for all the agreements he has failed to honor, but also warned him that his intervention "has only served to prove [Junts] right." The Junts spokesperson insisted, criticizing the Spanish government for only budging "when pressured." In her rebuttal, she pointed out to Nogueras that "they are not the only group" with whom they must reach an agreement and that if The difficulty in processing their initiatives stems from the challenge of reaching agreements within the plurinational majority. "Catalans" and Catalonia, where the Socialists are the largest group in the Principality. "Will you make deals with those who despise Catalan or want to end self-government?" he concluded, noting that this is typical of "parliamentarism."

Contrast the model with that of the PP's autonomous communities

Sánchez sought to contrast his model—implemented from the national government—with that of the PP, as reflected in the public policies they implement in thirteen of the seventeen autonomous communities they govern, in addition to Ceuta and Melilla. In this regard, he asserted that the Moncloa Palace has mobilized resources to support the welfare state, but that if people haven't noticed the benefits, it's the fault of the PP, which governs in most of the autonomous communities and holds significant responsibility for public services. "While this is happening, Feijóo is looking the other way," Sánchez concluded.

"If we have allocated another 300 billion euros to public services and these are being transferred to the autonomous communities, why are waiting lists and the quality of public services deteriorating in many parts of our country?" Sánchez asked. "It's not an economic problem, it's an ideological problem," he declared. He cited the management of the Valencian Community (where he has again called for elections) as an example. The management of forest fires in Castile and León and Extremadura; and the errors in cancer screenings in the Andalusian Regional Government.

He has focused, however, particularly on the Community of Madrid, where he has quantified the transfer of funds from the Spanish government at 130 billion euros. "What has [Isabel Díaz] Ayuso done with that additional money? She has lowered taxes for the rich and made contracts with private healthcare companies," he asserted. "They have turned Madrid into a casino where Quirón always wins," he said, referring to the increase in healthcare contracts with this group. A far from innocuous mention: beyond being one of the healthcare companies with the most contracts with the Community of Madrid, Ayuso's boyfriend, Alberto González Amador, is also under investigation for alleged crimes of business corruption and breach of trust due to his dealings with this group.

Feijóo, between the lack of a majority and an election

However, Sánchez's attack has not changed the script for Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who has not hesitated to continue exploiting the legal cases that are cornering the PSOE and Pedro Sánchez - from the Cerdán case to the statement of the Attorney General before the Supreme Court. In fact, Wednesday's appearance came after the leak of other audio recordings of Leire Díez that point to the Socialists.The leader of the People's Party has accused Sánchez of being behind the "sewers" within the PSOE and, therefore, behind the "blackmail of prosecutors, judges and the UCO".

All of this, in Feijóo's opinion, cannot be "normalized." "Don't count on me for that, or for anything," he asserted, appealing directly to Junts and the PNV: "You know as well as I do that [supporting Pedro Sánchez] won't come without a price." "Who would have imagined that two centrist parties are responsible for the deterioration of Spain and Catalonia?" he warned them.

But what can Feijóo do? The leader of the People's Party has not proposed a motion of no confidence. In fact, he has accepted that he does not have a majority in Congress. Faced with what he considers a scenario of "paralysis," with Pedro Sánchez in La Moncloa, elections must be held. "This is my option," Feijóo argued, even promising a "historic tax cut"—Mariano Rajoy also promised this in 2007—for home purchases if he comes to power in Spain. In this context, the leader of the far-right Vox party, Santiago Abascal, has warned him. "Don't start handing out ministries, you know what happened to you in 2023," he said, alluding to the failed victory in the elections because the majority ended up ousting Sánchez.