The president of the Generalitat and first secretary of the PSC, Salvador Illa, has urged that in the next general elections support at the ballot boxes be directed directly to the president of the Government and PSOE candidate, Pedro Sánchez: "Without beating around the bush, without intermediaries", with the aim of preventing the PP and Vox from gaining access to the Executive.
The socialist leader made these statements this Friday, coinciding with the official start of the 29N campaign, during a media appearance in Mollet del Vallès (Barcelona).
According to Illa, the only way to defeat those he has branded as authoritarian is to mobilize and turn out to vote in large numbers, doing it "directly to the one who can win against the PP and Vox", which, in his view, are Sánchez and the PSC, without going through other candidacies. With this, he made an implicit reference to Frente Amplio and the rest of the formations located to the left of the PSOE, which he considers less effective options for stopping the right and the far right.
In this first day of the campaign, the PSC has decided to concentrate its activity in the comarca of Vallès Oriental. After Illa’s initial event in Mollet, the socialist leader is scheduled to travel to La Llagosta and Granollers, and to close the day with a rally in Montmeló alongside the head of the list for Barcelona, Jordi Hereu.
National Core and criticisms of the PP and Vox
Illa has also reiterated that the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, "doesn’t know Catalonia" and that precisely because of that he will not manage to reach Moncloa. As an example, he pointed out that in the provinces of Tarragona and Girona the PP has renounced presenting a candidacy to the Senate after reaching an agreement with Vox.
In relation to Vox, he referred to its head in Tarragona and deputy in the Parliament, Sergio Macián, after some images published by ElDiario.es showed that on his work computer he had a sticker of the ultraright group Núcleo Nacional.
"Today we’ve learned something that is worrying. The president of Vox in Tarragona, on his computer, has a logo of Núcleo Nacional, a neo-Nazi party. Is this how you understand Catalonia, Mr. Feijóo?", Illa questioned, linking this episode to his criticism of the Spanish right.
National Nucleus is an far-right organization whose members have been the subject of legal proceedings: several of its members were detained last 6 November and a judge in Gijón ordered the closure of its activity for alleged crimes of incitement to hatred, illegal association and unlawful possession of weapons.