Catalan Socialists Open Election Campaign in Barcelona Urging Turnout
The PSC opened its campaign at Illa Diagonal in Barcelona, asking voters to turn out and beat poll forecasts of a PP and Vox win. Here is what was said.
The Catalan Socialists opened their election campaign on Thursday evening in Barcelona with a call for voters to turn out in large numbers. The PSC (Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya, the Catalan branch of the Socialist party) held the launch at the Illa Diagonal auditorium shortly after 7 p.m., under the slogan “La força d’un gran país” (the strength of a great country), according to the Catalan outlet go.eln.cat.
The party’s list leader, Jordi Hereu, who is also a minister in the Spanish government, called for what he described as a “historic victory”. The aim, speakers said, is to counter opinion polls that point to a win for the PP and Vox.
“Nothing is written”
Hereu told the audience the party had not come to hold on or to absorb a blow, and that a PSC win in Catalonia would make a Socialist win across Spain possible. He asked Catalonia to speak “loud and clear”.
Salvador Illa, first secretary of the PSC and president of the Generalitat (the Catalan government), said “nothing is written” and that Catalonia “will be decisive”. He urged supporters to work for a large win in both Catalonia and Spain.
Speakers cited the victory of Lula da Silva in Brazil and the setback for Donald Trump in the United States midterm elections as proof that polls can be wrong. According to go.eln.cat, the party is also trying to reach voters disillusioned by scandals that have hit the PSOE (the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party) and its leader in recent years, and by crises in the Sánchez government.
Collboni and Raquel Sánchez
Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni opened by welcoming the audience to the start of “the campaign of victory”. He borrowed a line from José María Aznar, telling supporters that anyone who can vote should vote. Collboni said Barcelona and Catalonia would be central to a PSOE victory and would become “the first bastion” against the far right in Spain.
Raquel Sánchez, a Senate candidate, also said the result was not written. She spoke of her roots in a migrant family from Murcia and of her career, which took her to the mayoralty of Gavà and to a ministerial post. She called for stopping the far right.
Jabs at the left and at Junts
PP and Vox drew most of the criticism, but Illa and Hereu also referred, without naming them, to parties on the Socialists’ left and to Junts. Illa joked that some on the left seemed to treat the contest as lost and were competing among themselves. He also criticised remarks by candidate Ada Colau about wanting to “subject” the PSOE and said the aim of the vote was to defeat authoritarianism by democratic means.
On Junts, Illa called them “the third ones in the middle”. He said they only say they are with Catalonia and asked them to clarify whether they are ready to move closer to those who want to end Catalan-language schooling and dismantle self-government.
Firefighters outside
A group of firefighters protested loudly outside the venue about working conditions linked to handling toxic products. They asked to speak with the Catalan interior councillor. According to go.eln.cat, Illa went out to hear their demands before entering the auditorium.
What this means for Barcelona voters
The launch shows how the PSC plans to run its campaign in Catalonia: a turnout drive aimed at undecided and disappointed Socialist voters, with the PP and Vox as the main opponents. Barcelona is presented by its own mayor as a place where the party wants to win. The launch was held in a small, packed auditorium in the evening, not with the traditional first poster at midnight on Friday.
Source: go.eln.cat
