Three in a row Spain, Catalonia and Barcelona, under socialist mandate. Pedro Sánchez, Salvador Illa and Jaume Collboni.
It is the alignment that the President of the Government is looking for, as a reward for his commitment to a reunion in Catalonia that, in this legislature, led him to adopt the most politically risky decisions of his term. In June 2021, the Government approved pardons for the leaders of the process. And, in December 2022, the Senate sealed the sedition repeal and embezzlement reform.
The right in unison, but also sectors of the PSOE, raised their hands to their heads. And there they still are. “What breaks Spain? Well, today the Constitution is fulfilled in each and every one of the territories of Spain”, Sánchez replies. Not by chance, yesterday closed campaign in Barcelona.
Together with José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, very active throughout the campaign. Felipe González, always quoted at PSOE rallies, was conspicuous by his absence. Zapatero was the last to make tic tac toe, with Pasqual Maragall and José Montilla, with Joan Clos and Jordi Hereu. And Zapatero was also the one who, before this campaign started –at the inauguration of the municipal conference held in Valencia in April–, called on the entire PSOE to defend the “courage” of Sánchez in Catalonia, including pardons.
Some regional presidents of the PSOE, such as Emiliano García-Page and Javier Lambán, still do not digest it. But also with them, in Puertollano and Zaragoza, as with the rest of the presidents and socialist territorial leaders, Sánchez shared the stage. “Everyone has already realized that Pedro contributes and adds up in all territories”, Ferraz emphasizes.
Up to 45,000 supporters, according to his calculator, attended the rallies that Sánchez held from May 1 until the end of the campaign in the Vall d'Hebrón pavilion. More than 150,000 people in all the PSOE events throughout Spain. “We are very happy with the mobilization and the atmosphere of the rallies”, they highlight.
"And we have done the campaign we wanted," they insist. A “positive and purposeful” campaign, according to Sánchez, full of advertisements that were later transformed into agreements of the Council of Ministers on public housing, health and education. With young people, women, pensioners and workers in their electoral target.
Sánchez tried to always take the initiative and impose his agenda with these announcements immediately transferred to the BOE. But the controversy over Bildu's lists and the scandals over alleged electoral fraud in recent days have altered his campaign guide.
The electoral goal for next Sunday is to retain the nine autonomies governed by the PSOE, especially the Valencian Community, but also Aragon and Navarra, Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura, the Balearic and Canary Islands, Asturias and La Rioja.
Also Seville, the main socialist square, and the reconquest of Barcelona and Valencia, but also Zaragoza, Malaga, Vitoria, Pamplona... Now, Sánchez only needs to cross his fingers.
