The Popular Party ends the electoral campaign in Galicia with more nervousness and concern than expected, even after the shock of July 23 that continues to fly over the game. Although the internal tracking of the PPdeG, stable since the pre-campaign, places them in 39 seats, according to authorized sources of the party, the published polls do not assure them of an absolute majority and indicate a growth of the BNG that imposes on the popular.
With just over 24 hours until the polls open, they are looking into the abyss of losing the Xunta after a revolted campaignbut they trust the traditional formula of the PP in Galicia: stir up the fear of nationalism and wait for the machinery greased since the time of Manuel Fraga to work.
Alfonso Rueda has closed his campaign with an event in A Coruña with Alberto Núñez Feijóo. The place chosen was the same one where the national president of the PP closed his for July 23 and the message was similar. If then they warned of a new coalition government, now the enemy is Ana Pontón's BNG. “Do not let nationalism reach this land. There is no land that has done well with nationalism (…) The nationalist plan is not a good plan no matter how much they try to wrap it in wrapping paper,” he said. Núñez Feijóo before Rueda went on stage.
The president of the Xunta and candidate for re-election asked the “true socialists” who reject that the PSdeG has “delivered to nationalism and independence” to vote. “In that Galicia of separatism we already know what awaits us: that there is only one way of thinking, yours,” Rueda continued. In the face of nationalism, he said, “freedom to choose.”
The popular They have been articulating their speeches for days around the idea of fear of a BNG that has taken over the leadership of the Galician left. From a video in which Pontón became Arnaldo Otegui, leader of EH Bildu, to Isabel Díaz Ayuso saying in Vigo on Thursday that “there is no nationalism without its hitman by its side”.
Both Rueda and Feijóo have asked to vote en masse and, although holding their breath in the face of a possible reversal, both have conveyed optimism to their people. “We depend on ourselves. We are going to win for sure because we are going to vote together as we have always voted,” Feijóo predicted, entrusting himself to a party that has given him four absolute majorities.
The “own ecosystem” of the PP in Galicia
It is common for the Galician PP to refer to their “own ecosystem” with which they achieve a kind of immunity to the controversies that surround national politics. On the one hand, a favorable media panorama and, on the other, a territorial implementation that is the envy of all the autonomous communities. “In the last village in Galicia there is someone from the PP,” defends a Galician leader. “It's time for them to respond,” he continues.
Thus, while Rueda asked the more than 3,5000 attendees, according to organization sources, to feel “accompanied”, Feijóo valued the machinery that he knows so well. “The PP of Galicia continues to be the best Popular Party in Spain,” he defended. And he added: “When this party knows what is at stake, it is relentless.” An important message after the turbulent week that the party has experienced and that has complicated their path to the polls.
A campaign more complicated than expected
The truth is that the campaign started well for Alfonso Rueda. With the pellet crisis over, Feijóo's heir in the command positions in Galicia – both in the Xunta and in the party – entrusted himself to a campaign in two parts: a first week in a national key and the second with a fully message Galician. The strategy was cut short at midpoint, after sources from the national PP will reveal to various mediaamong them Public, that Feijóo studied the amnesty for 24 hours and that he was open to a conditional pardon for Carles Puigdemont. The independence conflict and the PP's relationship with Junts entered the Galician campaign just when Rueda tried to leave the national debate.
The party closed ranks quickly so as not to weigh down the current president of the Xunta and candidate for re-election, but barons of the PP pointed out the “mistake” of having given both the left and Vox a chance in the middle of the race towards the polls. Thus, in recent days Feijóo has maintained a clearly low profile and mentions of the amnesty have been reduced to a minimum. Absolute silence also on the issue at the closing rally.
Rueda and Feijóo, Feijóo and Rueda, finish the campaign together with a message: maintain the status quo in Galicia. The two have a lot at stake on February 18.
Shortly before they grabbed the microphone, Galician health personnel received an SMS of the Xunta informing him of the salary increase agreed upon after the protests. Galician shellfish harvesters have also received a transfer of 550 euros in the last few hours.