The president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, presented himself yesterday for the third time at the Economic Circle with a much tougher speech than on previous occasions. In a clear electoral context, the popular leader focused his speech on reiterating the criticism against the president of the central government, Pedro Sánchez, from the day before the Congress and cast doubt on the real health of the Spanish economy.
Feijóo repeated his criticism of the “radical, selfish and reason-seeking policy” of the Spanish Executive. “This policy is not good for my country. The first characteristic is not revolving around the objective needs of the citizens”, he cried. In his opinion, there is no political project. “The Government has not presented budgets, it has broken down twice in 48 hours and there is only a parliamentary majority to push forward the Amnesty law”, he lamented.
Regarding the diagnosis of the economy, the leader of the PP paraphrased the president of the Cercle, Jaume Guardiola, pointing out that Spain is moving towards an “overwhelming economic mediocrity”. “Tomorrow Sánchez will come to say that the economy is going like a rocket, but the data do not show that”, he said. The popular leader pointed out that Spain ranks 21st out of 27 European countries in growth since the pandemic. “We don’t generate wealth,” he said, referring to the fact that per capita income is stagnant. In this sense, the Galician politician pointed out that “Spain today could ask for the cohesion funds of the European Union (EU)”, that is to say, benefit from the aid of the poorest EU countries.
Feijóo also assessed the European elections, the campaign for which starts today. His forecast is for a victory for the EPP, although he will need the support of other parties. In this sense, he followed in the footsteps of the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and celebrated the president of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, for possible pacts. “I don’t think it is acceptable to other parties that are considered extreme right in Europe”, he said.
To Guardiola’s questions, the leader of the opposition did opt for the Catalan economy. “The financing system is not enough. It is essential to change it because there are three communities that have a debt that they cannot pay: Catalonia, Valencia and Murcia”, he said. In this sense, the leader of the Spanish right pointed out the need to open the folder for the financing of the health system, because it is the most important expenditure that affects the autonomous regions. “If it’s not done, the motor of the autonomies will start running again”, he said.
Feijóo recovered several proposals from the PP in the last regional campaign. “We continue to think that the tax suffocation of citizens is inappropriate and produces poverty. We continue to think that water is more important than opening embassies. We think that housing, the occupation of housing and public health must be decisive issues in the next government and that Barcelona must stop being one of the most unsafe cities in the EU”, he asserted.
As for BBVA’s takeover of Banco Sabadell, the popular leader tiptoed over it. “Since the Government doesn’t inform us, I say what my party says in Catalonia: we don’t like it”. Feijóo indicated that he will read the verdicts of the CNMV, the CNMC and the Bank of Spain, but he stated that a takeover of a bank that is very embedded in a company, that is in thousands of companies and that the entity will well, he “must have very powerful reasons”.
In welcoming the speaker, Guardiola pointed out that, after the independence process and the normalization of self-government, the new phase of politics “should allow the state parties to face challenges and pending problems, which must be addressed with realism and with maximum consensus, but also with courage and ambition”. With Feijóo’s intervention it is clear that the distance between PSOE and PP is still unbridgeable.