If there is a decisive year for Pedro Sánchez, it is this 2023. With two electoral appointments in the coming months, and the Spanish presidency of the European Council starting in June, the final stretch of the legislature is the perfect setting to see how the President of the Government and leader of the PSOE deploys his arsenal of seduction. And that is where not only strategic policies, speeches or parliamentary debates come into play, but also their image, clothing, gestures and a whole series of elements that make up non-verbal communication, which are perceived in a non-conscious way, and which They have more influence than you might think.
Pedro Sánchez’s agenda is structured on two levels: to the presidency of the Government is added the leadership at the head of the PSOE, in which power is highly centralized. Moncloa and Ferraz, as centers of power, to which is added an intense international presence, which reinforces his profile as a statesman. But it all adds up. Yesterday, Friday, he returned from Beijing on an official trip and tomorrow, Sunday, he will attend a pre-campaign event for the PSC in L’Hospitalet.
What follows are the keys to the Pedro Sánchez style, drafted hand in hand with political scientist Oriol Bartomeus, non-verbal communication expert José Luis MartÃn Ovejero and image consultant Josué Pardo.
Pedro Sánchez is a good communicator and moves very well, says MartÃn Ovejero. “His favorite field of communication is Parliament: Congress and the Senate. There he feels like a fish in water. Especially face to face with the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo. It shows that he is well taken with the measure. Another A more emotional profile, like that of Isabel DÃaz Ayuso, could upset him, but with Feijóo he knows where he will go and that gives him security”, he details.
It’s easy to see when the president feels more self-confident, this expert points out. “He has an upright body; he is expansive at the gestural level, he opens his arms, opens his hands; he shows his chin high, not with Trump-type pride, and his gaze is direct,” he details. When he feels more insecure, he adds, he tends to hunch his body a bit, to take up less space, his arms stay close to his body and he tends to take his hands and interlock them in front of his body or on the lectern. It’s a very widespread reaction, he maintains.
And a success, which MartÃn Ovejero underlines: the president likes to stand on the right (on the left, in the photo) when it comes to shaking hands. “We see it in the photo of the one embedded with the president of China, Xi Jinping. Sánchez can see the palm of his hand, he dominates the image, transmits leadership. I do not enter into protocol, I suppose the host arranged it that way, but the truth is that Sánchez usually puts himself on the right and does it well,” he notes.
“Pedro Sánchez is attractive and that is an advantage in electoral terms,” ​​says MartÃn Ovejero. “We have a natural, instinctive tendency to give them positive qualities and trust more in people who are attractive. Between two candidates, the one who is handsome is voted for more. Sánchez has a good appearance and that works in his favor, we have all seen some look of Von der Leyen very illustrative”, he says, in a relaxed tone.
Josué Pardo agrees: the president has a good perch and knows how to take advantage. “He is very aware of the type of body that he has and he takes advantage of it. Whether you wear a formal suit or when you put on jeans and a shirt with a blazer, choose the pattern and size well,” says the director of VJ Asesores de Imagen, who points out that men tend to wear a wider pattern or a size more than they should, so they don’t feel like it’s tight, especially in the legs. “Sánchez wears models that are a bit fitted but without going overboard, something that would not correspond in his case eitherâ€, he points out. And he adds that “having a broad back helps you project security and masculinity, it’s something we don’t focus on specifically but our eyes perceive it.”
MartÃn Ovejero is blunt: on a facial level, the president is quite cold, he does not transmit emotions. However, the smile is one of his strengths and he uses it, and he usually has a direct look, which conveys confidence. And he lets himself be loved, he emphasizes. “There are photos in which you can see that Yolanda DÃaz takes his face, affectionately, and although he does not reciprocate, he is not such an affectionate and emotional personality, he lets himself be loved, he is not surly, he does not back down, but smiles “, he points out. “In addition, he is leaving a gesture that he used to do, which was clenching his jaw, either because he is controlling it or because he is more seasoned in political combat and it does not affect him as much as in the past,” he adds.
Like many politicians, Pedro Sánchez operates in two spheres: government and party. And we must add a third party in his case: the international scene. In the last ten days, he has participated in a European Council in Brussels, in the Ibero-American Summit in Santo Domingo, and has just returned from Beijing, after meeting with President Xi Jimping.
The international agenda gives it projection, but it has a derivative that must be managed, says Oriol Bartomeus, a researcher at ICPS-UAB. “Sánchez knows that international activity is one of his electoral assets. On this front, he turns around the alternative candidate several times and can exhibit a series of achievements; it is normal for him to use it. But it can have an undesired effect and give the impression that he doesn’t deal with the country’s problems, or they want to present him that way. The balance between the two effects is complicated, you have to know how to play it, because surely the PP will attack you from that side, less traveling and more taking care of the problems of the Spanish”, details Bartomeus.
As the polls are, the elections will be decided by half a million votes, warns Oriol Bartomeus. Any matter can decant the result of some general ones, also the economy. Sánchez knows this and although inflation has just given a positive surprise, he cannot be confident. “It is not the same to go to elections with a robust economy than to have people worried, seeing that the mortgage does not stop rising. And at this moment, with half a million votes that swings between PSOE and PP, the result changes, and beyond what everyone says, whoever comes first will be key,” he notes.
With such a narrow margin of advantage between the two big parties, it will be a house-to-house and street-to-street battle. The socialist leader cannot make mistakes. Neither does Feijóo, who is playing to be first because it is very difficult for Sánchez to govern if he does not win, even if he adds up, says the researcher at the ICPS-UAB. “If Podemos and Sumar go together, it will create a mobilizing effect on the left that will help the PSOE. But, be careful, one scenario would be the union of PSOE and Sumar. Automatically, the PSOE would lead the polls and generate a mobilization because on the left nothing weakens it more than the division. This agreement clarifies the situation and Sánchez could project leadership in the polls, “says Bartomeus.
The socialist leader’s suits are mostly blue, in different intensities. Dark blue is reserved for the most solemn acts. He always wears two-button jackets, never double-breasted, and his pants are slightly tailored. In general, he takes little risk with suits, Josué Pardo points out, but he cheers up a bit with ties, generally blue or garnet with some small detail, or purple tones, and of a width that he values ​​as correct. “If he wore them wider, perhaps he would give him a more classic image, which he doesn’t look for,” he says.
The shirts are a separate chapter. In recent weeks, Sánchez has become fond of round necks, also called club or eton necks, and reserves the more elegant V-necks for more solemn events. Both models are usually worn from white to sky blue, with a tie, although he has gone to Congress on occasion without. “I think that a round-necked shirt detracts from its presence. The more rounded lines are more feminine, perhaps it is a desired effect, they sweeten the image, although they also make it more fragile. In contrast, the blazers, due to the width of the shoulders that he he has, they help him to communicate greater security”, emphasizes the image consultant.
The political class makes few revolutions. They do not usually do them in regards to their ideology and even less in matters of image. In that they are the most conservative, it does not matter if they are from the left or from the right. And President Sánchez is no exception. He risks little.
At match events, it is easy to see him wearing jeans, which are usually a medium blue, a bit worn. He always wears them with a white or blue shirt, and he has some other color, like pink or dark green. Over it, he puts on a blazer or a jacket, and when it’s hot he goes all-out, with his shirt sleeves rolled up.
