A crowded school courtyard, about 1,500 people, and an especially young audience have received this Friday Irene Montero and Gabriel Rufián in Palma, where both have again shared the stage to claim a left that is capable of cooperating without giving up its differences. At the CEIP Son Oliva, the ERC leader defended that the objective is not to submit to the PSOE, but to shape its policies from the left, while Podemos’s candidate attacked a tourism model that, in his view, turns the Balearic Islands into a business for a few.
The organization had prepared 600 chairs, insufficient for the attendees who ended up coming to the rally. Among them were students who will vote for the first time and others who have not yet turned 18 years old. The event was also used to back the candidacy of Ara Més-Front Ampli, led by Carme Gomila and on whose list Lucía Muñoz, Podemos’s leader in the Balearic Islands.
Rufián resorted to irony to describe a hypothetical Government of Feijóo and Abascal, to which he attributed a division of responsibilities with Donald Trump and Benjamín Netanyahu among its political references. Afterwards, he warned that a majority of 210 deputies from the right and the far right would make it possible to push through constitutional reforms and asked the attendees whether they think their adversaries would use that power to modify public services and restrict rights. His own answer was unequivocal: "They will. In fact, they have said they will".
Rufián asserts Montero and calls for a left that conditions the PSOE
A large part of his speech was devoted to justifying cooperation between ERC and Podemos, despite differences over Catalonia’s independence. The republican candidate rejected that those disagreements prevent sharing an electoral strategy and appealed to his party’s antifascist tradition.
"We are separatists, progressives, feminists, environmentalists, but above all we are antifascists", he proclaimed, before turning to those who question his understanding with Podemos for not sharing separatism. “And what? There’s no right way to be practically anything,” he replied.
Rufián has defended that those who share progressive principles can work together without needing to agree on all their positions. "If you are a progressive, a feminist, an ecologist, if you believe in social justice, in democracy, in freedom and in anti-fascism, you are one of ours. We don’t hand out membership cards for absolutely anything", he said.
To bolster his argument, he has recovered some words by Julio Anguita spoken at a Podemos rally in Córdoba in 2016, in which the historic leader of Izquierda Unida called for overcoming resistance and seeking spaces for cooperation with other forces. "Here there is people with whom I want to walk", Rufián cited, before asking himself: "If Julio said it, who are we not to do the same?".
The republican has defended that the sovereignist lefts had to carry out an act of generosity in the face of the electoral scenario and has claimed the role of the forces that want to influence PSOE decisions without integrating into its project. "Comrades, the front is us", he proclaimed, in an intervention in which he insisted that his goal is to condition the socialists from the left, not to be subordinated to them.
He has also expressly asked for the vote for progressive forces, without limiting his call to a specific candidacy. "I ask you to vote progressive, to vote for whatever you want. There’s good people everywhere", he conveyed to the attendees, convinced that all these options need to achieve good results in order to add forces after the 29N.
In his defense of Podemos, Rufián has criticized those who belittle the party’s political influence and has especially claimed the track record of Irene Montero. "Who has said the same when he had enormous responsibility in Government? Who has said the same in a Council of Ministers? Irene Montero", he proclaimed.
Montero hits out at luxury tourism: "Balearic Islands is not Las Vegas"
Montero’s speech has had a marked Balearic accent. Podemos’ candidate has denounced the difficulties of accessing housing, the tourist pressure on the territory, and the conditions of those who work in hotels and hospitality establishments.
"There are nurses and there are teachers living in caravans", she lamented, before describing the situation of workers in the tourism sector. "You spend months and months cleaning hotel rooms, serving coffees or drinks to tourists. And when the season ends you can’t leave for a week of vacation and you can barely pay the rent," she denounced.
The former minister has contrasted that reality with the presence of superyachts, leisure boats, and private flights. "Balearic Islands is not Las Vegas. Balearic Islands is not your party scene. Balearic Islands is not your international workplace. Balearic Islands is not your luxury tourist complex", she proclaimed, before summarizing her proposal with a slogan: "Less tourism, more life".
Montero has defended prohibiting the purchase of homes by people who are not residents and restricting tourist accommodations that, as she has argued, contribute to pushing the local population out of their neighborhoods. "Houses are for living", she insisted, calling for measures to rein in real-estate speculation.
She has also proposed toughening taxation on polluting companies, private jets, and large yachts, as well as preventing certain companies from receiving subsidies or contracting with public administrations. In her view, those resources should be allocated to extensive agriculture and livestock raising, which she has defended for its contribution to conserving the land.
"Your lives are a business. Your cold in winter, your heat in summer is a business. Your salary is a business. Your homes are a business", she denounced, accusing the major economic interests of turning basic needs into profit opportunities.
Montero linked those criticisms to a call for social and electoral mobilization. As she has argued, speeches that blame immigrants, feminists, or LGTBI people for social problems divert attention from the concentration of wealth and power.
"They keep making us look the wrong way all the time", she warned, before defending strikes and mobilizations as tools to achieve political changes.
An electoral alliance with differences between territories
The rally has also allowed the uniqueness of the Balearic candidacy to be showcased. On the islands, Podemos participates in the Ara Més-Front Ampli lists by incorporating Lucía Muñoz as an independent, despite the division that alternative left-wing forces maintain across Spain as a whole.
Muñoz has criticized that economic crises fall on the same social sectors and has defended dedicating more public resources to housing and essential services. For her part, Carme Gomila has reproached the PSOE for staying "too many times in the background" when it needs to make decisions, and has warned that any parliamentary support for her candidacy will be conditioned on specific commitments for the Balearic Islands.
The Palma quote has been a new demonstration of understanding between Montero and Rufián, who had already shared events in Barcelona and Madrid. Their collaboration seeks to mobilize left-wing voters in a campaign in which both claim political autonomy from the PSOE and defend cooperation among sovereignist, republican, and plurinational forces.