The Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, accused Alberto Núñez Feijóo this Saturday of being "absolutely surrendered to the theses of the far-right" to reach La Moncloa "whatever it takes and at whatever cost". The socialist leader linked this rapprochement with Vox to a possible loss of rights and the risk of halting relevant agreements for the Canary Islands after the general elections on November 29.
Torres spoke before and during the presentation of the PSOE candidacies in the islands. There he maintained that the president of the PP doesn't care "absolutely if Spain regresses" if he manages to reach the Government, even relying on parties he described as "reminiscent of dictatorship and fascism."
The also general secretary of the Canarian PSOE has placed among the threatened issues the defense of equality, the distribution of migrant minors among communities, regional financing, and the participation of the Canary Islands in the management of its airports. His warning combines social rights with the territorial consequences of a possible PP and Vox Executive, an alliance that Feijóo again left open on Friday.
Torres expressed his conviction that the socialists will be able to prevent that scenario. "Those who will not be indifferent are the Spanish and the Canarians, we are going to win these elections," he affirmed. He also assured that Pedro Sánchez "will be president again" and that his Government will continue to preserve and expand rights.
"Absolutely nothing feminist," he responds to Feijóo
The minister especially questioned Feijóo's commitment to equality after the popular candidate proposed integrating that department into a ministry with other competencies. "Anyone, even Feijóo, can say they are feminist, but then we look at the facts," he pointed out, before reproaching him for his party's agreements with Vox in the autonomous communities.
The controversy stems from Friday's interview on 'Cadena SER', in which Feijóo defended that he considers himself a feminist because he was raised surrounded by women. In that same conversation, he announced that Equality would no longer have an exclusive portfolio and expressed his support for reopening the debate on abortion for 16 and 17-year-old women. Torres has placed his pacts and proposals as the measure of his commitment to women's rights.
"Of feminist, absolutely nothing. She is accepting all anti-feminist theses because the far-right imposes it on her," she affirmed. In contrast, she defended that Sánchez's Executive will continue to strengthen Equality, the fight against sexist violence, and support for groups working for women's rights.
Canary Islands enters the dispute over Feijóo's pacts
Torres warned that a PP and Vox Government would turn its back on the archipelago regarding the arrival of migrants and would leave both adults and minors on the islands. The distribution of the reception of children and adolescents constitutes one of the main points of confrontation. In April 2025, Congress approved the reform of the Immigration Law, which allows them to be transferred between communities when a territory sees its capacity overwhelmed, with the opposing vote of popular and ultra parties.
In terms of funding, the minister has estimated at 1.3 billion additional euros per year the resources that, according to his warning, the Canary Islands would lose with a change of Government. This amount corresponds to the improvements negotiated for the islands in the proposed reform of the autonomous system. Its processing fell through with the dissolution of the Cortes, so the application of this new model remains pending for the next legislature.
The agreement had obtained the support of the Canarian Government, formed by Coalición Canaria and the PP, although the autonomous representation in the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council was assumed by the Minister of the Presidency, Nieves Lady Barreto, of CC, instead of the head of Finance, Matilde Asián, of the PP. This difference allows Torres to confront the interests that the insular Executive claims to defend with the positions of the national popular leadership. The minister has also included among his concerns the protection of the Economic and Fiscal Regime, the unique framework of the islands, and of the autonomous State.
Canarian participation in airport management will be the next item on that agenda. On Thursday, October 29, a bilateral body with four representatives from the State and four from the Canary Islands is expected to be formalized, which will monitor the works and needs of the airport infrastructures. Torres has pointed to this agreement as another of the advances whose future he links to the result of 29N.
