The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation and head of the PSOE list to Congress for Cádiz, José Manuel Albares, has defended that his party is promoting a model of "coexistence" in contrast to the "regression" that, in his view, is represented by the "reactionary coalition" formed by PP and Vox.
In statements to the media during a public event of the PSOE in Ponferrada (León), Albares stressed that the elections of 29 November are the "most decisive in democracy".
"What is at stake is either continuing to make progress or that the far right returns after the years of dictatorship to the government of Spain and that there is a rollback," he said, insisting that in these elections "coexistence itself" and also rights are put on the line.
The Socialist leader contrasted Pedro Sánchez’s proposal, whom he attributed to a "progress" government in the last legislative terms, with measures such as an increase in pensions or in the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI), against the "reactionary coalition" which, he warned, "will privatize pensions and review the SMI".
Albares also underlined the PSOE’s commitment to public education and healthcare, and he stressed that Spain needs a Socialist government to maintain "that strong voice in the world".
Along these lines, he highlighted the "voice committed to the dignity of the Palestinian people" that, in his opinion, has been exercised by Sánchez’s executive, which has "led in all the major international crises".
By contrast, he placed the PP, which he reproached for "openly saying yes to war in Iran" and for the "closing of the Strait of Hormuz", a situation that, he said, "is increasing prices and inflation". "Therefore they are making it so that everyone’s wallet is hit and that every day gasoline is more expensive in this country," he said.
"These are two models: one of coexistence, of progress, of increasing rights, and the other of regression and rollback in rights, and also of facing each other and dividing the Spanish people against one another," he summarized.
He also criticized "demagoguery" in immigration policy and argued that the current situation "shows that economic growth, an increase in the SMI, and a reduction in unemployment are compatible with the arrival of migrants".
"And in those countries that have that Vox recipe, what they demonstrate—there we have the Italian case—that at these moments they have the highest levels of irregular immigration inflows, unlike Spain, which has the lowest rates of all the migratory inflows, both irregular and regular, in the Mediterranean," he added.
"Therefore, there is a lot of demagoguery with those measures and little effectiveness against the results, both economic and real, in the fight against irregular immigration that this government offers," he concluded, also emphasizing that "only the government of Pedro Sánchez, a progressive government, guarantees European values" in Spain.
Albares also referred to El Bierzo, where he argued that it is essential for Sánchez to continue at the head of the Executive because that means "progress" for the region, "where the major advances, the major investments, and the major transformations always go hand in hand with the initials of the PSOE."
Lastly, asked about Ceuta, he recalled that it is "moving forward a European package" that provides for a permanent seat for the autonomous city on the Committee of the Regions, whose approval is expected for this Monday.