Pedro Sánchez Campaigns in Tarragona for a Broad Progressive Majority Ahead of November 29
“If we vote en masse, we send Feijóo and Abascal home,” Pedro Sánchez told a crowd of approximately 2,000 supporters at the Port of Tarragona on Saturday.
The Spanish President and leader of the PSOE took his campaign for the November 29 election to Catalonia, urging voters to deliver a “broad majority” to block the PP and Vox from reaching the Spanish government. Rather than addressing specific regional policies, Sánchez focused his remarks on a broader national and international frame, warning against what he termed the “ultraright international.”
Sánchez Warns Against a Right-Wing Coalition Administration
Sánchez warned that an administration led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Santiago Abascal would pull Spain into alignment with countries like the United States or Russia: “We will not be the backyard of the ultraright international,” he said, while reiterating a slogan popularized by socialists on social media weeks earlier: “We are proud to be leftists.”
To reinforce his message, the President invoked the stance of Pope Leo XIV against the far right and referenced musician Patti Smith—whom he referred to as “the punki”—as her anthem “People Have the Power” played at the Tarragona rally. Sánchez also pressed the PP on abortion rights, promising to enshrine the right to abortion in the Constitution, noting that a previous attempt fell short because it lacked the required majority.
Catalan Socialist Leaders Call for Mobilization
Sánchez was joined at the rally by the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa; the PSC candidate for the general elections, Jordi Hereu; the head of the list for Tarragona, Ione Montalvo, and the mayor of Tarragona, Rubén Viñuales.
Illa, alternating between Catalan and Spanish during his address, echoed the call for a massive turnout and criticized Junts for positioning itself between the PSOE and the PP-Vox bloc. Describing Tarragona as the “quilòmetre zero de la rendició del PP i Vox,” Illa hit out at pacts between the populars and the far right regarding Senate representation.
Hereu appealed to what he called the “moviment esperança” to counter hostility. Drawing on the traditional castells culture of the Camp de Tarragona region, Hereu contrasted socialist governance with the policies of his opponents, characterizing the PP-Vox alliance as a threat to rights and social services.
The Tarragona event followed a campaign stop in Valencia, which Sánchez undertook after parties suspended campaigning following a fatal two-train collision in Urda, Toledo, that claimed 69 lives. Addressing his government’s track record compared to the opposition, Sánchez defended his administration’s handling of public crises and past railway policy.
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