The PSOE general secretary and president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has highlighted the labor and social achievements reached in Spain over the last decades and has warned that "what took a century to conquer can be lost in an instant." At the same time, he has launched attacks on the PP and Vox for boasting of "scissors and chainsaws" when proposing "cuts and privatizations" ahead of the upcoming general elections on November 29.
In a video shared on his profile on the social network X and taken up by Europa Press, Sánchez recalls that "today, rights like 'working eight hours a day', going to the doctor 'without having to pay' or enjoying paid vacations seem normal," even as he emphasizes that "there was a time when all of that was unimaginable."
The head of the Executive stresses that "it is worth remembering how much it cost to achieve it, because rights and freedoms have never fallen from the sky." He recalls that there were workers who did it "without the right to stop even when they fell ill," that going to the doctor was a "luxury," and that getting into university was "a dream."
Sánchez highlights that those advances were achieved thanks to the organization and mobilization of workers who "said enough," "took to the streets" and called strikes. "It wasn’t easy, but they changed Spain," the president says, two days before the call for a general strike over housing, adding that "what seems impossible today can be a right or a freedom tomorrow."
The video also includes excerpts from speeches by the PP leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and by the Vox president, Santiago Abascal, where it is made clear that "there are those who boast about scissors, about chainsaws, who promise cuts, privatizations and sacrifices." These words are set against the defense of social rights and the maintenance of robust public services.
Likewise, Sánchez denounces that this type of policies involves "blunt cuts for everyone, windfalls for a few" and warns that its effects fall on "workers and the self-employed who can’t make ends meet," on those who spend months on a waiting list to be operated on, and on those who fear they won’t be able to enjoy "a decent pension."
Against that model, the president of the Government argues that the country’s obligation is "to keep moving forward," which, in his view, means guaranteeing "universal and high-quality public services" and ensuring wages and pensions that allow people to live "calm and safe."
"Those who preceded us fought for the present that we live in today," Sánchez concludes, before arguing that the best recognition for those generations is not only to safeguard the gains already achieved, but also "to conquer what we dream of."