Spanish Prime Minister and Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) Pedro Sánchez held his first rally in Catalonia in Tarragona on Saturday ahead of the November 29 general election. Sharing the stage with Salvador Illa, president of the Catalan government and leader of the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), Sánchez addressed approximately 2,000 people, according to the PSC.
Sánchez described the election as a showdown between his political project and the “international far right.” Sánchez said, “On November 29, with our vote, we will tell them that Spain is governed from Spain; it is not governed from Washington, Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires or Moscow.”
In the video, Sánchez stresses that his country is not governed from foreign capitals, listing them one by one, and says they will not allow Spain to become “the forward outpost or backyard of the international far right.” Sánchez delivered his speech under the PSC slogan “La força d'un gran país” (The strength of a great country).
Sánchez also defended his government’s opposition to the war in Iran, its recognition of the State of Palestine and its support for peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestine. Following the results of the U.S. midterm elections this week, the Spanish prime minister had also argued that the far-right wave was no longer growing but had collapsed.
Response to Milei on “socialism”
Targeting Argentine President Javier Milei in his speech, Sánchez said, “The other day, Milei came to Spain and said that socialism is fascism. But we will not allow Milei to define socialism.” Milei made the remark this week at the 30th Ibero-American Summit in Madrid. Infobae reported that the two leaders exchanged a cold greeting at the summit on Thursday.
Sánchez said the history of socialism was filled with people who faced persecution, exile, death and imprisonment for defending democracy. Citing Catalan socialist Ernest Lluch as an example, Sánchez recalled Lluch’s contribution to establishing Spain’s public healthcare system.
The Spanish prime minister also addressed the term “zurdo” (leftist), which Milei frequently uses for left-wing people: “If they call us zurdo as though it were something insulting, we say that we are very proud to be zurdo.” Sánchez later shared this part of his speech on his X account.
In the video, Sánchez responds to Milei by saying that figures such as Ernest Lluch defined socialism. He emphasizes that there is a “great difference” between socialists who paid a price for defending democracy and those who stood with the forces that destroyed democracy in the country in the past.
Another “no” to 5 percent
Sánchez also recalled that they had rejected the defense-spending target of 5 percent of gross domestic product demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump from NATO allies. “At the height of the far-right wave, we told Trump and all the warmongers that we would not spend 5 percent of our GDP on defense,” Sánchez said, adding that they wanted to allocate those resources to education, healthcare, care services and pensions.
Sánchez, who has announced that he would reform the Constitution to guarantee the right to abortion if reelected, said the minimum wage had risen by 66 percent over the past six years. Targeting People’s Party (PP) leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Vox leader Santiago Abascal, Sánchez said, “If we vote in large numbers, we will send Feijóo and Abascal home.”
Video: Clash Report. Photos: PSOE / Eugenia Morago
