The president of the PP and candidate for the Presidency of the Government, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has opted for "The necessary change" as the central slogan of his campaign for the general elections on 29 November, which will give the starting gun on Thursday 12 November with an event in Badalona (Barcelona).
After Pedro Sánchez announced the election call three weeks ago, the PP put up a large banner on the facade of its national headquarters with the slogan "At last". This Friday, the popular party leadership has revealed that the message that will preside over the 15 official days of the campaign will be "The necessary change".
In an information appearance at the PP headquarters, the party’s secretary general, Miguel Tellado, has defended this slogan, underlining that on 29 November Spaniards "have in their hands a historic decision": "They will decide at the ballot box whether they want four more years of Pedro Sánchez and everything that has entailed, or whether they bet on the change proposed by the PP of Alberto Núñez Feijóo".
"This is about saving Spain from Sánchez"
Tellado, who acts as campaign director, has indicated that "The necessary change" summarizes that Spain "needs to change course and do so toward management, rigor, and experience". As he added, "The PP is facing the campaign with a very clear objective: Close once and for all this stage, the most damaging of our democracy, and open a new stage of hope, rebuilding, and unity".
In his view, the appointment with the ballot boxes on 29 November is about "saving Spain from Sánchez" and "saving Spain from the most corrupt Government the country has had in the democratic history", with the aim of offering citizens an Executive "honest, focused on management, with values and with principles".
"Our campaign will be based on management and the presentation of proposals, betting on the rigor and experience represented by a candidate like Feijóo", the PP’s secretary general has said, contrasting the profile of his leader with the "collapse" that, in his view, is represented by the Government of Pedro Sánchez.
Poster-hanging in Badalona and large rallies
The election campaign will officially begin the night of Thursday, on a tour in which the PP expects to visit all the autonomous communities. Feijóo has chosen Badalona for the traditional poster-hanging, where he will be accompanied by the city mayor and head of the list to the Congress for Barcelona, Xavier García Albiol.
The Populars have already closed other large-scale events. On Saturday, November 14, Feijóo will travel to Santiago de Compostela to take part in a major event at the Multiusos Fontes do Sar. A week later, on Saturday the 21st, in the midpoint of the campaign, he will hold a rally in Valencia together with the PPCV, at the bullring, a landmark venue for the party and linked to its stages of absolute majorities.
Several campaigns in parallel and the participation of Aznar and Rajoy
Tellado has acknowledged that the PP has a wide territorial presence and, consequently, will put together a campaign with a local focus and another aimed at digital media, which "today are in the pocket of each of the Spanish people."
As he has detailed, the party will activate its entire structure for the general election, with several simultaneous campaigns: that of Feijóo himself, another led by members of the executive committee, 17 autonomous-region campaigns with their presidents and 52 provincial campaigns, with the intention of reaching all corners, even where the candidate cannot travel.
Tellado has also confirmed that the former Prime Ministers José María Aznar and Mariano Rajoy will have an active presence in different territories, although for now he has not specified the exact places where they will intervene.
The PP leader will also rely on his main regional leaders to strengthen the campaign, and some of them will take part in events outside their communities, such as the president of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, or the president of Andalusia, Juanma Moreno. "Against a Sánchez who is increasingly alone and weak, Feijóo will be more supported and stronger than ever. We go out to win and to govern; we go out for everything and we go out to seek all the support possible," Tellado concluded.
Presentation of the electoral program and criticism of Sánchez’s management
The PP has advanced that on Tuesday, November 10, it will unveil its electoral program for the general election, coordinated by the Deputy Secretary for Sectorial, Alma Ezcurra. At the event, which will take place in Madrid, Feijóo and Ezcurra herself will speak.
"In Feijóo's Spain, ideas are the most important and, therefore, we want to give them value. We are the party of the proposal; we have been doing so over the last few months," the PP's general secretary has stated, who has insisted that during the campaign they want people to talk about "management" and has highlighted the "experience" of his candidate, with 14 years at the head of the Xunta de Galicia and previous stages leading Correos or Insalud.
To conclude, Tellado has denounced that "the country watches, stunned, the brutal deterioration of all public services and corruption." In his view, it is "the massive corruption of sanchismo that has no day without a raid or day without an arrest," referring to the latest operation by the UCO linked to the so-called "Koldo case".