"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 break away. Sánchez's intervention aimed to establish the following framework: that the PP and Vox's governance is destroying the autonomous communities they control 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 swipe at the party led in the Congress of Deputies by Míriam Nogueras. He urged them to return to “the spirit of agreement, because the fate of many people depends on what is debated and approved” in Congress. He also touted the “social peace” he claims his government has achieved, both in Catalonia and throughout Spain, and reiterated his certainty that he will serve out his term despite the withdrawal of support from Junts. Sánchez spoke of the 2027 elections and expressed his conviction that, by then, the amnesty will be fully implemented. This was a nod to Junts, given that former president Carles Puigdemont has been in exile for eight years.

Miriam Nogueras, however, not only failed to take up Sánchez's challenge, but she was also far from accommodating: "He's a cynic and a hypocrite," the Junts spokesperson in Congress snapped. The public face of the Junts party in Madrid not only reproached Sánchez for all the agreements he hasn't honored, but also warned him that his intervention "has only served to prove [Junts] right." "You have appealed to the spirit of the agreement [...] We don't want spiritual agreements, we want action," insisted the Junts spokesperson, who criticized the Spanish government for only budging "when pressured." Sources at La Moncloa downplayed the Junts response, suggesting it's typical of "parliamentary politics." In any case, they expressed "utmost respect" for their decision to sever ties.

Regarding Sánchez's other most critical partner, Podemos, she asserted that "things cannot continue like this." The leader of the purple party, Ione Belarra, has urged the Spanish president to draw up a plan "to crush the right wing" and prevent the PP and Vox from reaching La Moncloa (the Prime Minister's residence).

Contrasting the model with the PP's autonomous communities

Sánchez sought to contrast his model—implemented from the national government—with that of the People's Party (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 central government 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. "If we've allocated another 300 billion euros to public services and are transferring it 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 as an example the transfer of 130 billion euros, he said, to the Community of Madrid by the Spanish government. "What has [Isabel Díaz] Ayuso done with that extra money? She's lowered taxes for the rich and signed contracts with private healthcare companies," he declared. "To survive, many Madrid residents have had to take out private insurance [...]. They've turned Madrid into a casino where Quirón always wins," he asserted, citing the increase in healthcare contracts with this group. This mention is far from innocuous: 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 business corruption and breach of trust due to his dealings with the group.

Feijóo, between a lack of majority and elections

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 more 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," or at least his party won't allow it: "Don't count on me for that, or for anything else," Feijóo asserted, directly appealing to Junts and the PNV: "You know as well as I do that [he supported Pedro Sánchez]. Who would have imagined that two centrist parties are responsible for the deterioration of Spain and Catalonia? When the PSOE puts them in the fachofera "They will be left without power," 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 the Congress of Deputies. Faced with what he considers a scenario of "paralysis," with Pedro Sánchez in La Moncloa (the Prime Minister's residence), his only option is to go to La Moncloa. Feijóo, who has even promised 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 [something], frustrated by the elections because the majority ended up voting for Sánchez."