The barons of the PP warn against the "nationalization" of 18-F: "We must Galicianize the campaign"

Juanma Lamet Madrid

Madrid

Updated Tuesday, February 13, 2024-01:34

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The alarms have not yet sounded in the PP headquarters, but there are nerves and tension. Alfonso Rueda's absolute majority, which seemed immovable just a week ago, now remains the most likely scenario, yes, but it is no longer taken for granted. These are common doubts in the final see-saw of all electoral events, but this time there is an additional vector of uncertainty: has the

PP

done well by proposing such a national campaign in Galicia? Can it turn against him in the final stretch?

Various government barons consulted by this newspaper agree that it is better to focus the campaign on Galician affairs, without letting national news eclipse them. "The first rule is to Galicianize the campaign, and not nationalize it," summarizes an autonomous president in conversation with this newspaper. "Feijóo always won by transcending the acronyms," adds another. "In other communities it didn't work," observes a third. Of course, although they do not believe it is the best option, the barons continue to believe that the

PPdeG

will obtain an absolute majority. "People in Galicia are in a different situation," says another of those consulted, who adds that precisely for this reason many have doubts about whether it is best to focus so much on the amnesty and on the clash with Sánchez. Despite this, Feijóo insisted this Monday at a rally in Marín (Pontevedra) in opposing the President of the Government: "I am not Pedro Sánchez: I neither accept the amnesty, nor will I accept it; nor do I accept the pardons nor will I accept them."

It happens, of course, that the current leader of the popular is a Galician with four absolute majorities behind him. "

Feijóo

adds in Galicia, without a doubt," they say in

Genoa

. Hence, the Orense leader has dedicated himself, with his own agenda and very rich in rallies, to the regional campaign. But after the

PP

's discursive setbacks due to Puigdemont's possible pardon, the regional leaders consulted believe that it would be better to press the regional accelerator and devote 100% to

Rueda

.

Several barons remember that Feijóo ran campaigns in which the PP logo appeared small, apparently, and the motto always referred to Galicia, beyond the acronym. His strategy was always to differentiate himself from Genoa. Because of one's own accent, in short. And that is now being combined with a clear commitment to the national issues that most harm Pedro Sánchez. However, there is some fear in the baronies that, in the midst of this fray, there will be a mobilization of young progressives around

Ana Pontón (BNG).

In any case, that fear is contained in the polls, which continue to give the main scenario a new Galician government of the

PPdeG

. "If they don't get the absolute majority in Galicia, everyone in the PP is going to have a headache, but I think they are going to get it and that this controversy is not going to have an influence on the Galician elections," says one of the barons.

Another of the presidents remembers that the general election campaign also began to go wrong the previous weekend, when sources from the PP leadership raised expectations before the press to a threshold of 168 seats, which in the end were 137. repeat the mistake. This doesn't help, but it won't influence. Nor the pellets,” says a baron.

These warnings from the PP's main bishops about the future of the campaign - always behind closed doors - are not new. A month ago, with the controversy over the dumping of pellets, other barons already warned that the PP should not enter the national framework, but rather focus on Galicia, because there it aspires to convince voters who voted for the PSOE or the BNG on the 23rd. J, but that in the regional elections they prefer a differentiated vote. "There is no need to nationalize the campaign," warned a regional president. "We have to talk about Galicia, not so much about Spain," he insisted. Of course, he also noted that "Feijóo adds" in Galicia, "not like

Casado

, who subtracted."

In the internal chats of the deputies, which are fuming these days, they speak clearly that Feijóo should monopolize the campaign less and give more prominence to the candidate. "He has not let

Rueda

do what he asked," one of them wrote in the conversations that this newspaper has accessed. Another deputy answers that "the best thing" would be for

Feijóo

not to have a leading role "this week" and for any headline that diverts attention to "disappear." Although

Rueda

has expressed several times in public his gratitude to the president of his party, for multiplying throughout the Galician geography.

Isabel Díaz Ayuso has also closed ranks with Feijóo in public. Yesterday, in an interview in The Critical Look, the Madrid president took a swipe at her leader: "I haven't heard anyone from the PP say anything different." She insisted that Feijóo "has not talked about a pardon" in public. Of course, she spoiled the negotiations: "I wouldn't go with Junts even around the corner."