Pedro Sánchez and Mamdani raise in New York a progressive alternative to Trump: "The powerful fear us"

Pedro Sánchez and Zohran Mamdani have turned the official residence of the Mayor of New York this Wednesday into the showcase of a progressive alliance with an international vocation. In the midst of the United Nations General Assembly and with Donald Trump back in the White House, both leaders have advocated for an economy focused on workers, public services, and access to housing. "The powerful fear us," proclaimed the Spanish president.

It was the first in-person meeting between Sánchez and Mamdani, although the political relationship had been taking shape for months. The head of the Executive already presented the democratic socialist's victory as a sign that the left can advance when it offers "hope and not fear," and the mayor participated in April through a recorded message at the progressive summit organized by Sánchez in Barcelona.

The meeting began with a bilateral meeting and continued with the working breakfast 'Building an Economy for the Majority', organized at Gracie Mansion. Also participating were the President of the European Council, António Costa, the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, and the Governor of the province of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof. The meeting thus brought together different sensibilities of a left that seeks to coordinate in the face of the advance of the far-right and the weakening of progressive forces in much of the West.

"Spain is demonstrating that another economic model is possible and New York is demonstrating that this same ambition can transform our cities," Sánchez defended. The president presented the Spanish economic results as a response to those who link competitiveness with low wages and cuts in social protection. "Day after day we demonstrate that a different path is possible. And it works," he insisted.

Salaries, housing and migration versus the politics of fear

Mamdani has taken up the argument with express recognition of the policies approved by the Spanish Government. He recalled that the minimum wage has increased from 735 to 1,221 euros since Sánchez arrived at La Moncloa and praised the extension of birth leave, the prohibition of conversion therapies, and democratic memory policies.

The mayor has defined Sánchez as a "defender of the working class". In his opinion, wage increases have sent a direct message to millions of people. "Their work matters, their effort matters, and their dignity matters," he said.

Sánchez has claimed that Spain currently has more workers than ever, that unemployment is at its lowest level in almost two decades, and that inequality has decreased to its lowest since records began in 2008. He also defended the response deployed during the pandemic and successive energy crises, with aid to families, transport bonuses, tax reductions on food and energy, and extraordinary taxes on banks and electricity companies.

Housing has occupied a central space in the meeting. Mamdani has built a good part of his municipal project around the cost of living and has promoted the freezing of rents for almost a million regulated homes. His plan also contemplates building 200,000 affordable homes and preserving another 200,000 over the next decade, backed by a municipal investment of 22 billion dollars over the next five years.

Sánchez has admitted that being able to afford housing has become one of the great questions of this generation. The issue also shows one of the main weaknesses of his management. The meeting was held on the same day that Maricarmen, an 87-year-old woman from Madrid, was evicted from the house where she had lived for seven decades. The social shield that protected vulnerable families fell with the votes of PP, the far-right Vox and Junts, and the Executive still lacks a parliamentary majority to recover it.

The president has also defended the contribution of immigration in a week marked by the Ceuta crisis. "Migrants work in our companies, contribute to our public finances, sustain our welfare state, and enrich our communities," he stated. Against discourses that pit national and foreign workers against each other, Sánchez warned of an old political tactic that seeks to "make people look sideways so they never look up."

The intervention connected directly with the American political battle. Trump's migratory offensive and his threats against cities governed by Democrats have placed Mamdani among the president's main counterpoints. The mayor, born in Uganda to a family of Indian origin, became the first Muslim to lead New York in January and the city's youngest mayor since 1892.

Lorca and a left that seeks an international network

Mamdani opened his speech by remembering Federico García Lorca and reciting 'Canción del jinete' (Rider's Song). The mayor evoked the poet's stay in New York, the rise of fascism in Europe, and his assassination during the Civil War to link that era of darkness with current political tensions.

"García Lorca never hid his convictions. He deeply believed in the possibility of a better world," he assured. Mamdani argued that the leaders gathered at Gracie Mansion now have the responsibility to take "equality and justice to further horizons."

The symbolism of the meeting went beyond American politics. Sánchez called for strengthening an international movement of progressive forces capable of standing up to the coordination maintained by the radical right, large technology platforms, and economic sectors in favor of reducing taxes and social protection. He also demanded democratic limits for artificial intelligence and social media given the growing concentration of power to decide what millions of citizens see, read, and believe.

Moncloa has presented the meeting as the result of political affinity and has tried to distance it from any diplomatic clash with Washington. The contrast with Trump, however, ran through the entire day. Sánchez criticized the US president's speech before the United Nations during his stay in New York, although he also stressed that the bond between Spain and the United States is "more solid than the steel that supports the Brooklyn Bridge".

Mamdani combines that ideological confrontation with a pragmatic relationship with the White House. Just two days earlier, he received Trump at the same residence and discussed with him a project to build around 12,000 homes in Queens. The mayor has made it clear that he will collaborate with the federal administration when he can achieve progress for New Yorkers and will maintain his positions on immigration, civil rights, and freedom of the press.

Sánchez has thus found in New York an ally with enormous projection within the American left. Mamdani closed the meeting by quoting Rosalía after having opened it with Lorca, while the Spanish president urged attendees to extend a shared agenda based on decent wages, affordable housing, public services, and migration managed with dignity.