Irene Montero and Gabriel Rufián pressure the PSOE in "La Revuelta" with the housing problem and corruption: "The left cannot steal"

Irene Montero and Gabriel Rufián have brought to "La Revuelta" tonight a warning about the limits of Pedro Sánchez's management. The Government has achieved progress with the pressure of left-wing forces, the ERC deputy has acknowledged, but these achievements lose strength when people continue to live "in dungeons at palace prices". The Podemos candidate has put proposals on the table, from lowering rents by 40% to raising the minimum wage to 1,800 euros. And Rufián has added a demand about the conduct of those who aspire to represent that political space. "The left cannot steal", he affirmed, before sending a greeting to Soto del Real.

The interview with David Broncano on La 1 of TVE has brought together two leaders who share a campaign, although they run under different acronyms in the general elections on November 29. They have defended their autonomy against the PSOE, have acknowledged disappointment over the lack of unity, and have asked that all left-wing candidacies, including Frente Amplio, do well. They have also shown differences, especially on how to address immigration, in a conversation that has alternated proposals, political criticisms, and the program's questions about sex and money.

Broncano started precisely with a joke about his purpose of uniting the left. The guests responded with gifts loaded with intention. Rufián brought Jaén olive oil and a deputy's briefcase so that the presenter has an alternative if one day he is fired from TVE and decides to run, for example, with the PSOE. For an eventual visit from Santiago Abascal, he reserved an alarm clock, due to his habit of not getting up early; for Alberto Núñez Feijóo, a portrait of Pablo Casado.

Montero has given knee pads for Feijóo or Abascal. With them, she has turned around the sexist insinuations she has received for years and has accused right-wing leaders of kneeling before Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. She has also brought a purple leash for the dog that accompanied Sánchez to the program last week, with the wish that "it does not go to the right".

The gifts have allowed introducing criticism without waiting for political questions. Rufián has said that Feijóo has "less grace than a glass of water" and has suggested inviting Isabel Díaz Ayuso. Montero has ironized that the interviews of the PP leader make his adversaries win votes. Both have also recalled the fall of Casado, precipitated by the internal war he opened in 2022 by questioning the mask contract related to the brother of the Madrid president.

Pressuring the PSOE and lowering rents

The division of the left has occupied one of the first sections of the conversation. Rufián has explained that an understanding was attempted and that the electoral call found them at a bad time. He has also rejected that the response to this fragmentation consists of everyone ending up within the PSOE. There are many people, he recalled, who want to vote for other forces.

"I want a PSOE Government subjected by formations like ERC or Podemos", he defended. His approach involves strengthening the parties that can demand measures from the socialists during a parliamentary negotiation. He expressed his wish for the PSOE to do well, but distinguished that objective from working for it. Montero, for her part, vindicated the primary proposal with which Podemos tried to resolve the joint candidacy and expressed her disagreement with the electoral pact with the socialists.

The shared television appearance allows both to defend a political relationship that has survived the failure of a broader candidacy. Podemos has renounced presenting its own lists in Catalonia and Rufián accompanies Montero in the campaign. This collaboration leaves out an integration into Frente Amplio, headed by Ada Colau, but the republican leader insisted that the entire left needs good results to prevent a PP and Vox Government.

Rufián acknowledged that he understands the disappointment of voters. He asked them to choose the candidacy they prefer within that space and go to the polls. Later he returned to the need to stop hurting each other among forces that would need to understand each other after the elections.

Housing has given concrete content to that discussion. Rufián recalled that a year ago he already warned that the problem could devastate the Government. Montero defended lowering rents by 40%, prohibiting speculation and expropriating vulture fund homes to allocate them to affordable social housing. She summarized part of her proposal with the idea of "one family, one home".

The Podemos candidate has also proposed a minimum wage of 1,800 euros and a 30-hour work week to have more time for life. To an anarchist spectator who asked what they could offer him to get his vote, she added the nationalization of strategic companies, including energy companies with multi-million dollar profits.

Rufián has defended "taxing wealth, not labor". He contrasted the accumulation of large fortunes with a daily image of rising grocery prices, security alarms on oil bottles. He also rejected that being left-wing obliges one to live with privations. His goal, he explained, is for everyone to be able to live well.

Montero has used these programmatic differences to present Podemos as the true useful vote. In her opinion, the PSOE will not dare to expropriate or nationalize companies. The discussion thus shifts the electoral competition to the decisions each force would be willing to demand after 29N, especially on an issue that conditions disposable income and the possibility of emancipation.

Both have left room for self-criticism. "We fell short", Montero admitted about the changes achieved. Rufián recalled ERC's vote against Yolanda Díaz's labor reform, approved in 2022, and said that Montero herself called him to ask them to support the text. This memory served to show a collaboration between the two leaders prior to their current joint campaign.

Feminism and the rejection of racism

The conversation about immigration showed a difference in approach. Rufián argued that the far-right targets migrants because they are poor and contrasted this discourse with the treatment of rich foreigners in the Salamanca neighborhood. He advocated addressing immigration as a challenge from inclusion, with rights and obligations.

Montero questioned this framework and placed the danger on vulture funds that accumulate housing to speculate. She recalled that many Spanish families have parents or grandparents who emigrated and contrasted the welcome given to Ukrainian refugees with the suspicion directed against other people. Her response involved strengthening public services to ensure that everyone can live well.

Both have criticized the ease with which the right seeks those responsible for problems among migrants, feminists, or trans people. Montero has also expressed the wish that Netanyahu does not win in Spain, an allusion to the far-right's affinity with the Israeli leader and to the international dimension of the political dispute.

Feminism has left one of the most personal moments of the interview. The former Minister of Equality has defined it as "the best thing this country has" and has regretted that even from progressive sectors, women are asked to stop bothering. "Nothing is solved by putting feminism in a drawer," she defended, claiming that pending rights demand continuing that battle.

Rufián has pointed to feminism as a force that curbs fascism and has recalled the harassment suffered by Montero in front of her house, with her children inside. He has also criticized the political loneliness that, according to him, she experienced while she was a minister, when attention and spotlights were directed towards other figures of the left. He has expressed his pride in sitting next to her.

The question about Íñigo Errejón has changed the tone of the conversation. Rufián said that the case surprised him a lot. Montero replied that it did not surprise her and maintained that "quite a few people knew it." The Podemos leader has denounced that "power gives impunity" and has called for breaking with the culture of rape and stopping looking the other way.

There have also been discrepancies and coincidences regarding Catalonia. Rufián has defended that "parties should not be churches" and that they have to adapt to reality. Montero has reiterated that Podemos prefers Catalonia to remain in Spain, but recognizes its right to decide. The ERC leader has responded to those who consider separatism weakened by asking for a vote to be allowed and to check that result.

Regarding the future, Rufián has expressed his concern about "evil still being in fashion", about the applause for those who boast of causing harm and about the consequences of a PP and Vox Executive on citizens' rights. In that context, he has again asked for good results for all left-wing candidacies, expressly mentioning Frente Amplio.

Broncano later brought up the question of whether his guests are more sexist or more racist. Rufián questioned the wording, although he replied that, as a man, he has more work to do on sexism. Montero explained that she has reviewed herself more in that area than in racism. Earlier, regarding Sánchez's and Rufián's pants, she had celebrated that at least for once men's clothing was being talked about.

In the question about money, Rufián has responded that he has around 40,000 euros and has mentioned the book he has just published, of which he brought a copy for the presenter. Montero has participated in more detail in the conversation about sex and has proposed that oral sex should score at least 1.5 on the program's scale. "It's harder to find a guy who eats your pussy well," she argued. Rufián added another question with a laugh, "and eating ass, does that sound familiar?".

"We are enjoyers," Montero said, who recalled the importance of consent and explained how the campaign alters priorities, first eating and sleeping, and then sex. The exchange allowed guests to participate in the show's usual humor after an interview focused on housing, party differences, and the defense of their proposals.

The closing came with Fernando Costa and Dollar Selmouni performing live the opening theme of "La Revuelta." Montero invited Emilio Villaverde, an activist in defense of pensions and public healthcare, to join them, who brought his well-known chant of "We are not going to stop" to the set.