• Politics Feijóo recovers Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo for the leadership of the PP in Congress
  • PP Feijóo calls for a tough, but "proportionate" opposition from his new team: "We will refocus Spain"

Genoa, Congress and Senate. Between the three organizational charts, there are 39 leaders of the PP. All the intermediate positions of the national leadership of the Popular Party have yet to be named, but the profiles that Alberto Núñez Feijóo has been unveiling this week for the new fringe of power of the PP, as in a kind of drip irrigation, allow us to reach three major conclusions. The first, that of tone and approach: the work of the opposition will be tougher, "proportional to a radical government", as Feijóo himself proposed yesterday, at the National Executive Committee of his party.

The second key is the rejuvenation and "feminization" of the main nodes of power of the PP. The image that Feijóo wanted to highlight the most is that of the four new deputy general secretaries, very focused on the social sphere, to steal "flags" from the PSOE. Even that of equality: after eliminating councillors from the branch and asking for the elimination of the Ministry, the PP creates a specific area in its national directorate. He rectifies and prepares to fight the cultural battle.

The third, the new territorial balance of the PP's top brass. There are three barons who gain more political weight than the rest in the new leadership: Isabel Díaz Ayuso, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco and Jorge Azcón. All three add up to very important bishops. The clearest case is that of the president of Madrid, who places two people she trusts in Genoa: Paloma Martín, deputy secretary of Sustainable Development, and Noelia Núñez, who occupies the area of Mobilization and Digital Challenge. In it, Feijóo wanted to stage the generational renewal of the party, awarding it the challenge of the "connection of society with the PP and of the PP with society", from "his enviable age of 30 years".

Azcón's right-hand woman, Ana Alós, has become the most important deputy social secretary of the PP, from the area of Equality and Conciliation. His profile is one of the most upswinging in the party. In addition, the Aragonese president gains a quota in the Popular Parliamentary Group by the hand of Mar González Bella from Zaragoza, who will occupy the deputy secretary general. His immediate boss will be Macarena Montesinos from Alicante, which gives Carlos Mazón greater influence than he had.

The third big winner of the new power-sharing is the president of Castilla y León, who places Alicia García as spokesperson in the Senate and puts one of his bishops, Ester Muñoz, in the double deputy secretary of Health and Education.

Andalusia accumulates positions, but at the second levels: Bendodo goes from being number three to a reinforced deputy secretary; Javier Arenas remains secretary general of the group in the Upper House; and Juan Bravo remains as Deputy Secretary General of Economy. These are the three main positions of the territorial organization led by Juanma Moreno, who says he is satisfied with the renewal.

As for the PP in Galicia, it is unlikely to have even more influence. Feijóo himself and Tellado, now powerful spokesman for a group of 137 deputies, are joined by ÁlvaroPérez, José Manuel Barreiro, Marta Varela, Mar Sánchez, Luis de la Matta, Jaime de Olano...

In the rest of the communities, in general terms, a distribution similar to the previous one is maintained.

Another relevant conclusion of the PP's changes is that Feijóo will turn all the deputy secretaries – except Bendodo and Carmen Fúnez – into the Congress and the Senate, as coordinators of their areas of influence. In this way, the axis of the opposition is clearly shifted from the organic to the parliamentary. Above all, in the Lower House, where no less than seven of the 12 leaders of the national leadership of Genoa disembark and veterans such as Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo and Rafa Hernando, two former spokespersons, enter the board. And Paloma Martín will focus more on the Upper House.

"Widening the party"

And so the new leadership team of the PP begins to walk with "the greatest territorial power in its history" and a clear objective: to make a national opposition of shock, but "more social" and without "giving away any flag" to the left. Feijóo's new project will have as its main "task" "to recover a country of free and equals". How? "Widening Spain's reformist party and votes, to win better victories."

This was pointed out by Feijóo during his speech before the National Executive Committee of the PP. The leader of the opposition asked his supporters to conspire against "the most radical government of the 45 years of democracy". After that, he defined his model for the legislature: "There has been a lot of speculation about the style of opposition, and those who try to "decide or control" what opposition the PP is going to make will fail. "They are not going to protect us, the alternative that the PP will exercise will only be set by the Spaniards," he stressed.

Consequently, he called on his people to "continue" the same and "continue to offer a responsible policy in the face of a reactionary government", but without sparing in forcefulness. What Feijóo wants is to "respond with proportional and proportionate opposition to the radical government that Spain has today". Proportional in hardness, proportionate in tone.

Of course, Feijóo does not want to convey a message of opposition by flood, but of centrality: "We will fight every outrage to recenter Spain."

  • PP
  • Alberto Núñez Feijóo
  • Politics
  • Cuca Gamarra
  • Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo
  • Miguel Tellado