Yesterday, Pedro Sánchez urged the Socialists to grit their teeth and tighten their fists before the strategy of “polarization and tension” that he attributed to the Popular Party to try to bring it down. “In the face of the insult, we must vindicate temperance, and a lot of patience so as not to fall for their provocations”, he asked.

But he also called for “bravery and courage”, as well as “unity” in the socialist ranks, in view of a challenge that, he said, not only threatens the PSOE, but also democracy and the institutions.

“Spain is going in the right direction”, assured Sánchez at the opening of the congress of the PSOE of Extremadura held in Mérida, after celebrating that his Government “is dismantling one by one all the neoliberal myths” deploying a reformist agenda that does not it involves cuts or increases the deficit, and Spain is a leader in economic growth and job creation. All this always under intense artillery fire from the right. “Spain breaks all employment records, while the opposition breaks all toxicity records”, he denounced.

“They are muddy because they are very muddy”, he warned against the offensive deployed by Alberto Núñez Feijóo with the ammunition of the corruption scandal of the Koldo case, in which he also targets the president’s wife, Begoña Gómez, while attempt to cheat the temporary due to the imputation for tax fraud of the partner of Isabel Díaz Ayuso. But the head of the Spanish Executive wanted to stand up: “They to smear and we to govern for the people”. Although he criticized that Feijóo “doesn’t answer” regarding the case that is now splashing the president of the Community of Madrid.

Sánchez summarized the keys that, in his opinion, encourage the PP’s opposition strategy: “They question the legitimacy of the Spanish Government, they use the institutions and they use lies as a way of doing politics”. “They use insult, disqualification and destruction of the opponent, even from a personal point of view, because they have no political project for their country”, he warned. With the sole aim, he assured, of “demobilizing the progressive electorate and creating disaffection in the citizenry with respect to politics”.

The leader of the PSOE regretted that “there is a lot of polarization and tension” in the public debate, even if it has nothing to do with the real concerns of the public. But he attributed it to the spread of an “ultra-right international” in the world and also in Spain. “The right and the ultra-right imitate each other in the way they speak, do politics and approve measures contrary to coexistence and cohesion”, he criticized.

“The far-right international has made polarization and tension its only strategy to be able to destroy the Government of Spain”, he warned. “They have been trying for six years and have not succeeded. And I’m already telling them that they won’t succeed: we will govern for nine years, and then the Spanish will decide with their vote”, he emphasized.

The president insisted on the fact that, despite the tense climate of the political scene and the uncertainties of the legislature – now pending an intense electoral calendar – he is determined to exhaust his mandate in 2027: “We will not stop, bad let it weigh on them”.

The congress of the PSOE in Extremadura dismissed with honors, tears and loud applause Guillermo Fernández Vara – who presided over the Board until last year he was evicted by an alliance of the PP with Vox, and now he is facing a serious illness -, and gave the welcome to the new leader of this federation, Miguel Ángel Gallardo, who has already set himself the goal of regaining the presidency of Extremadura in 2027. Sánchez guaranteed him absolute support to achieve this.