With morale in great shape. That's the outlook of Spain's opposition People's Party (PP) in response to this Monday's surprise call of a snap general election in the country for July 23rd, as leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo has explained. After the unmitigated victory in the municipal and regional elections on Sunday, the PP head was bullish about "bringing the political cycle to an end" on July 23rd, taking into account "the very forceful message about the direction of the country" which, in his opinion, Spanish voters gave "with a clear victory for the PP". "Spaniards have said basta, we have come far enough," he said on Monday from the PP headquarters in Madrid after the meeting of the party management. Feijóo, who admitted that he has spoken with Vox leader Santiago Abascal, called for respect for "the competencies" of PP leadership in each autonomous community when deciding on the coalition agreements and pacts with the far-right party after the elections, which will be required in many cases for the PP to reach power.
🔴 All our coverage in English of the 2023 Municipal Elections
🔴 All municipal results: search for your municipality
Despite the early election call, today the PP wanted to highlight the electoral success of May 28th in which Spain's main conservative party wrested almost all territorial power from the Socialists (PSOE) and expanded its municipal power. "Spain took the first step yesterday to opening a new political cycle and that is why I call on everyone to complete the political cycle that will end on July 23rd," Feijóo said, referring to the end of what he calls "sanchismo." Thus he called for "a clear, incontestable and forceful majority to start a new political era" because, he added, "sanchismo has not yet been repealed and Spain is called to do that in 54 days." "Five years of the government of the PSOE, Podemos, Bildu and the Catalan pro-independence parties have been enough. The harmful consequences for the nation are visible to the whole world and they are part of an exhausted model that has to end forever." With these words Feijóo attempted to offer an epitaph for Pedro Sánchez. "Neither the policies nor the social climate generated are what Spain wants."
Deals with Vox: "It's up to the regional parties"
The confirmation of the victory of the PP at the polls this Sunday is inevitably linked to a policy of pacts with Vox, which has in its hands the power to make or break regional and municipal governments. At this point, Feijóo opted to passed on the responsibility, leaving these decisions on deals with the extreme right "up to the detailed analysis that will be made in town halls and in autonomous communities." "That has to be left to the parties at regional level and their directors," replied Feijóo, acknowledging that he had shared mutual congratulations with the far-right party, including a conversation with Vox leader Santiago Abascal this morning. "He congratulated me on the results; I thanked him and told him that their support had grown in the municipal elections", he explained.
Sunday night on the balcony at Calle Génova
In line with the rituals of the great PP victories, Feijóo went out onto the balcony at the party's Calle Génova headquarters on Sunday night, accompanied by the two other winners in the Spanish capital, both with absolute majorities, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, in the Community of Madrid, and Jose Luis Martínez Almeida as mayor of the Spanish capital. Beside them, Feijóo proclaimed that "Spain has begun a new political cycle."
Sunday's results saw many PSOE strongholds turn to the blue of the PP: through the absorption of the votes of the collapsed Ciudadanos party, and thanks to the emergence of Vox on their right, the PP will be able to take power in the Valencian Country, the Balearic Islands, Aragon, Extremadura, Cantabria and La Rioja; it has also achieved the desired absolute majority in the Community of Madrid thanks to the unstoppable rise of Isabel Díaz Ayuso and has shielded its majority in the Region of Murcia. The Socialists can only celebrate having maintained the absolute majority in Castilla la Mancha and preserving the Asturias executive, among the autonomous communities that voted on Sunday.
As for the municipal councils, as well as the absolute majority in the city of Madrid, the Spanish conservatives will hold Zaragoza if the extreme right is willing to make a deal. Similarly, the PP has managed to wrest Seville from the PSOE, in addition to conquering the city of Valencia. And, to add insult to injury, the People's Party have obtained more votes than the Socialists in the sum of all the municipalities of the Spanish state: 31% of all the votes cast in Spanish ballot boxes this Sunday have gone to the main party of the right, while the PSOE took 28%.