Manfred Weber and Pedro Sánchez were yesterday in Catalunya warming up the last hundred meters of the campaign. Warming up to which the senior management of BBVA also contributed by announcing a hostile takeover of Banc Sabadell. Madrid DF could not miss the event. Madrid DF never misses the appointment when the distribution of power in Spain is decided, discussed and voted on.
The president of the European People’s Party traveled to Barcelona yesterday to help Alberto Núñez Feijóo, whose party risks falling behind Vox in Sunday’s elections, at least in number of votes. If such a thing were to happen, it would be bad news for Feijóo’s leadership. Six months of unprecedented agitation regarding the Amnesty law, five consecutive demonstrations in Madrid since October (Plaza Felipe II, Puerta del Sol, Cibeles, Temple of Debod and Plaza España), would not have served to neutralize Vox.
In Catalonia, Vox can resist, executing future acrobatic flights with Aliança Catalana, the extreme right of Catalan national obedience that is fighting to enter the Parliament. Núñez Feijóo is concerned about Sunday’s results, because immediately after come the European elections on June 9 and the numbers are not clear.
To stay healthy and not repeat the mistakes made in July of last year, Narciso Michavila, an electoral analyst widely listened to by the right, declared last week that in the European elections there could be a tie between PP and PSOE. “The letter has been very good for Sánchez, despite the criticism. At this time I do not rule out a tie on points in the European Championships,” he declared on the Cope radio station.
Being behind Vox in Catalonia and tying with the PSOE in the European elections would be a bad viaticum for the Galician politician, who is not feeling well in Madrid. Isabel Díaz Ayuso and Miguel Ángel Rodríguez have not thrown in the towel, as was made perfectly clear last May Day. Everything is at stake in Spanish politics. All. For this reason, Manfred Weber traveled to Barcelona yesterday.
Weber needs a good result from the Spanish PP in June, to compensate for the foreseeable weakness of the forces attached to the EPP in Italy (Forza Italia) and France (Les Républicains). In addition, he has outstanding accounts with Sánchez, since in July 2019 he could not achieve the presidency of the European Commission due to the veto of France and Spain.
Weber yesterday described Sánchez as a “showman” for his letter as a husband in love and for the suspense of the five days of April. Feijóo resorted to another style last week, comparing the President of the Government with Franco. Feijóo is using the blunderbuss these days, and Weber used the telescopic sight yesterday, since the five days of April have weakened Sánchez in European politics. They have weakened him on a superstructural level and may have strengthened him in the short electoral term, as Michavila assumes.
Sánchez has decided to have a double closing day in Catalonia. He wants to mobilize voters in the Barcelona metropolitan area and is doing especially well in Catalonia, under less pressure. Last week he extended his stay in Barcelona on his own initiative, after the surprise visit to the April Fair in Sant Adrià de Besòs.
Weber-Sánchez will be the June fight.