Pedro Sánchez promises to enshrine abortion in the Constitution and mobilize the vote against PP and the far-right Vox on 29N: "Feijóo is the wrapping, but Abascal is the gift"

Pedro Sánchez promised this Saturday in Granada to resume the protection of the right to abortion in the Constitution and called for the mobilization of the progressive electorate to prevent a PP and Vox government after the general elections on November 29. The president defended the continuity of euthanasia and new increases in the minimum wage against the cuts he attributes to his adversaries. "Feijóo is the wrapping, but Abascal is the gift and there are gifts that are not worth opening," he warned.

The Congress Palace gathered 3,000 people, according to the organization, in Sánchez's second major pre-campaign event in Andalusia, after the one held on October 10 in Dos Hermanas. Along with the socialist candidate, María Jesús Montero, deputy general secretary of the PSOE and leader of the party in Andalusia, and Pedro Fernández, provincial secretary and head of the list for the Senate for Granada, spoke. Among those present was Miguel Ríos, whom Sánchez greeted with a hug.

The president has linked both leaders with "Javier Milei's same chainsaw club" and has mocked their difficulties in getting a photograph with the Argentine president during his visit to Spain. With that comparison, he has presented the elections as a decision about rights and public services. His warning covers pensions, healthcare, sick leave, and the minimum wage, issues with which he seeks to bring the electoral dispute to the daily lives of voters.

Abortion and salaries focus the response to Feijóo

The statements by the PP leader on 'Cadena SER' have occupied a central part of the speech. Feijóo declared himself a feminist for having been raised among women, proposed integrating Equality into another portfolio, and reopened the debate on abortion for minors aged 16 and 17. Sánchez has replied that "being a feminist is not cutting women's rights" and has announced that, if he governs again, he will promote their constitutional protection. He has also promised to maintain the euthanasia law as "a great conquest and an advance for Spanish society".

The abortion reform recovers an initiative that was pending in the recently concluded legislature. The Council of Ministers approved the project on April 7 to incorporate that guarantee into article 43, but its processing fell through with the early election. Fulfilling the promise now requires more support than what is necessary for an investiture. The ordinary procedure requires three-fifths of each Chamber, although it contemplates an alternative route with two-thirds of the Congress and an absolute majority of the Senate. A government majority, by itself, would be insufficient.

In economic matters, Sánchez has guaranteed that the minimum wage will continue to rise "with or without an agreement with the employers' association" as long as he is president. He has linked these wage improvements to Social Security income and has defended the regularization of immigrants both for social justice and for their contribution to the pension system. Housing has also appeared among his priorities, with a request for a broader progressive parliamentary majority to be able to advance during the next four years.

The call to mobilize has a specific electoral context in Granada. In the 2023 general elections, the PP obtained three deputies; the PSOE, two; Vox, one, and Sumar, another. The right-wing parties thus gathered four of the seven seats in the province. Sánchez seeks to regain ground by presenting salaries, pensions, and rights as reasons to go to the polls, while trying to place the PSOE at the forefront of the progressive response to a possible Feijóo Executive with Abascal.

Lorca and memory to combat demobilization

The rally began with the reading of 'Cantos nuevos' (New Songs), by Federico García Lorca, in the room named after the poet, 90 years after his assassination. Sánchez explained that Ian Gibson wrote to him on Friday to ask him to vindicate his figure. "This is Lorca's Spain," he proclaimed, before defending a Spain that preserves its memory, embraces diversity, and welcomes the different.

Granada's culture has also marked the staging. Sánchez entered to the rhythm of 'La Antigua Judería', by La Plazuela, and put on a t-shirt with the slogan "The strength of love". He also mentioned 'La bola negra', by Los Javis. These references have accompanied a discourse in defense of freedoms, a few hours after disseminating his anti-war video in front of 'Guernica' at the Reina Sofía.

María Jesús Montero insisted on that mobilization with a warning about democratic memory and social rights. "We are not going to allow a single step back", she affirmed, citing abortion, euthanasia, and equality. The Andalusian leader also acknowledged pending problems in housing and work-life balance. Pedro Fernández, for his part, highlighted state investment in infrastructure and the promotion of the IFMIF-DONES scientific project as part of the Government's balance sheet in Granada.

In closing, Sánchez accused the right-wing parties of playing at demobilization before the elections to cut back afterwards and questioned their positions on the so-called grandchildren's law. "But what happens, are the grandchildren of the Franco regime going to be able to vote and the grandchildren of the republican exile are not going to be able to do so?", he asked. His request to those present was to go to the polls on November 29 "for them with even more strength if possible".