The new electoral campaign kicks off this July 7 with the debate of the general elections of La Vanguardia and RAC1. The event will take place between 9:00 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. at the ONCE Auditorium in Barcelona and can be followed via streaming through lavanguardia.com and rac1.cat.
The host of El Món on RAC1, Jordi Basté, and the deputy director of La Vanguardia, Enric Sierra, will moderate the debate, in which the eight candidates for Congress for Barcelona will participate: Gabriel Rufián, from Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya; Meritxell Batet, of the PSC; Míriam Nogueras, from Together for Catalonia; Roger Montañola, from PDECat-Espai CiU; Aina Vidal, from Sumar-En Común Podemos; Nacho Martín Blanco, of the Popular Party; Albert Botran, from the CUP, and Juan José Aizcorbe, from Vox.
Pedro Sánchez called elections for Sunday, July 23 after “assuming in first person” the results of the municipal and regional elections of this year. The generals of this 23-J will serve to verify if the PP revalidates the victory of the municipal elections -and if it needs the help of the extreme right to govern- or if, on the contrary, the PSOE and the left are capable of keeping up front of the executive
According to the latest CIS estimates, the PP would win the elections with between 122 and 140 seats. However, he would not be able to reach an absolute majority with Vox, so there would be the possibility of a coalition government between PSOE and Sumar.
Specifically, the debate will be structured in three blocks: the first will focus on the Catalan conflict; the second, on specific proposals for Catalonia in matters such as the economy, financing or infrastructures and the third will try to explore possible post-electoral pacts that, without a doubt, will be decisive in tipping the balance in favor of Sánchez or in favor of Feijóo. As always happens, the debate will conclude with a final minute for each candidate to address the public and ask for their vote.
It is to be expected that one of the most tense points of the debate revolves around the balance of the Government’s policies and, specifically, the figure of Pedro Sánchez. If the right has proposed in these elections to win the day of 23-J to “repeal sanchismo”, the president of the Government has counterattacked by highlighting his progressive social economic policies in the face of the possible “reactionary current” that comes if PP and Vox.
Unlike the whole of Spain, the debate will necessarily be more plural: up to eight political forces with representation in Congress will confront their ideas. And they could have been more: the great absentee will be Ciudadanos who, despite having Catalan representatives, refused to participate in these elections on 23-J.
Follow the debate of the general elections of La Vanguardia and RAC1 to find out the positions of the different parties on these issues and form an opinion for 23-J.
