Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo has called for Pedro Sánchez to leave the Government and has defended a transformation of Spanish institutions if the Partido Popular wins the general elections on next November 29. The deputy and number two on Alberto Núñez Feijóo's candidacy for Madrid believes that the resignation of the Transport Minister, Óscar Puente, would not be enough to politically respond to the rail tragedies of Adamuz and Urda. Her diagnosis goes beyond the management of a department and points directly to the socialist Government model, to which she attributes a deterioration in institutional responsibility and public management criteria.
In an interview granted to ABC and published this Monday, November 2, Álvarez de Toledo summarizes her proposal for a possible PP government stage with a declaration: "I want reconstruction, not revenge". The Popular Party leader defends that a change of Executive should not translate into replacing positions close to the PSOE with others linked to the PP, but rather into reviewing appointment mechanisms and recovering the independence of institutions. Her approach combines a demand for accountability for railway management with a broader political reform, focused on merit, technical capacity and accountability.
Álvarez de Toledo considers Óscar Puente's resignation insufficient
Óscar Puente's situation occupies a central place in Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo's statements. The deputy considers that the minister should not continue at the head of Transport after the Adamuz and Urda accidents, although she maintains that a possible resignation would not solve the underlying political problem. In her view, limiting the consequences of both tragedies to the departure of a member of the Executive would make it possible to avoid the debate about the responsibility of the President of the Government and about the decisions adopted during the last few years.
"His resignation is a minimum moral imperative", says the leader in the interview published by ABC. However, she insists that the political response must extend to Sánchez, whom she holds responsible for the management model applied by his Government. Álvarez de Toledo even suggests that she would prefer Puente to keep his electoral candidacy so that citizens could also judge his performance through the vote.
The Popular leader attributes to the Executive deficiencies in the maintenance of infrastructure, a lack of attention to certain warnings, and excessive politicization of public bodies. These accusations form part of her political assessment and do not constitute findings substantiated by judicial and technical investigations, which remain open to determine the causes of the accidents and the responsibilities that may correspond.
The PP proposes an independent audit of the railway network
In contrast to the action of the Ministry of Transport, Álvarez de Toledo defends a comprehensive review of the railway system carried out by independent specialists, with the aim of detecting deficiencies and determining what investments and reforms would be necessary. The proposal is framed within the strategy that Feijóo is trying to place at the center of the pre-campaign, after the Urda tragedy forced the parties to modify their election messages.
The deputy maintains that the management of public services should be based on the selection of qualified professionals, on the analysis of available data, and on the search for political agreements. She also criticizes the fact that belonging to a party can condition access to positions of technical responsibility, an issue she considers especially relevant in bodies linked to essential infrastructure.
The defense of merit and institutional independence is one of the main arguments of her regeneration proposal. However, applying that principle would require specifying the selection procedures, the controls, and the guarantees intended to prevent new political interference, regardless of which party is in Government.
A reform of institutions without replacing Socialist positions with Popular ones
Álvarez de Toledo also proposes a review of the functioning of public institutions and of the appointment systems for their leaders. Her declared aim is to prevent state bodies from being used to satisfy partisan interests, a situation she denounces in different areas of the Administration. The leader defends that a PP victory should serve to strengthen institutional neutrality and not to reproduce the practices she attributes to the Socialist Executive.
In this context, she calls for changes in the functioning of Justice, a Prosecutor’s Office with greater independence, and a Parliament with more effective instruments for overseeing the Government. The deputy rejects the idea that the 1978 Constitution has become exhausted and maintains that the necessary reforms must be carried out within the constitutional framework, without replacing the political system with a completely new one.
Among her first proposals, she highlights the elimination of the simultaneous translation systems used in Congress to speak in the co-official languages. Álvarez de Toledo considers that the translation earpieces symbolize a territorial policy that, in her interpretation, emphasizes differences among Spaniards instead of their common elements. Her position contrasts with that of the parties that defend the use of Catalan, Galician, and Basque in state institutions as an expression of the linguistic pluralism recognized by the Constitution.
Criticism of PSOE’s pacts and warnings about 29N
The interview also addresses Pedro Sánchez’s parliamentary alliances and his relationship with the pro-independence parties and EH Bildu. Álvarez de Toledo considers that those agreements have contributed to increasing political confrontation and questions that the PSOE has normalized certain positions of its partners. The deputy links this criticism to her proposal to recover a policy based on institutional agreements and shared principles.
Looking ahead to November 29, the candidate calls for broad electoral mobilization and announces that the PP will pay special attention to the monitoring of the votes and the review of the electoral rolls. During the conversation with ABC she raises suspicions about possible attempts at electoral manipulation related to the so-called grandchild law, which allows certain descendants of Spaniards to access Spanish nationality.
These accusations do not establish that there is electoral fraud or that the granting of nationalities has been used to illegally alter the results of an election. The monitoring of electoral procedures corresponds to the competent bodies, while the parties may exercise the oversight functions provided for by legislation through their representatives and proxies.
Álvarez de Toledo praises Feijóo and avoids anticipating her future in the Government
The popular leader has also defended the leadership of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, whom she credits with the ability to combine management experience, institutional firmness and a willingness to reach agreements. Álvarez de Toledo considers that the PP must present an alternative that is not limited to promising administrative efficiency, but rather incorporates a political vision about the functioning of the institutions and the obligations of public officials.
When asked about the possibility of taking on a ministry in a future Executive, she avoids confirming any specific aspiration and warns that anticipating the division of portfolios before knowing the electoral result would be a mistake. The deputy recalls the 2023 elections to insist that no political party should take victory for granted before citizens vote.
In international matters, she defends a close relationship with the United States, regardless of the differences that may exist with its current Administration, and greater cooperation with the countries of Hispanic America. She also is committed to strengthening border defense and revising Spanish policy toward Morocco, especially after the recent events in Ceuta.
The interview with Álvarez de Toledo in ABC thus draws a proposal for political change that goes beyond replacing Pedro Sánchez with Alberto Núñez Feijóo. The number two on the popular candidacy for Madrid proposes reviewing the institutions, changing management criteria and restoring confidence in public services, with the Urda railway tragedy as one of the main issues of the campaign. Her message combines a severe criticism of the Government with the promise that a possible PP victory will not turn into a partisan revenge, although the real scope of that reconstruction would depend on the concrete reforms that a future Executive could approve.