Irene Montero responds to Feijóo that his "machismo kills" and demands with Rufián a left that confronts the PSOE: "It's not enough to stop the right, we have to improve people's lives"

Irene Montero opened her pre-campaign for the general elections on November 29 this Saturday with a response to Alberto Núñez Feijóo's speech about women and a vindication of the left's ability to change living conditions. The MEP and Podemos candidate shared the stage with Gabriel Rufián in the Plaça Major of Nou Barris, in Barcelona, where she accused the PP leader of leaving women unprotected with his proposal to abolish the Ministry of Equality as an independent department.

Montero warned that "machismo kills" and linked the ridicule of feminism with the fear suffered by victims of gender violence. Voting for the PP means endorsing machismo and violence, she argued, defending that the rights and resources aimed at protecting women must occupy a central place in the electoral discussion.

The response comes after Feijóo suggested on Friday on 'Cadena SER' integrating Equality into a portfolio with other competencies and reopening the debate on abortion for 16 and 17-year-old women. Asked about his feminism, the popular candidate responded that he had grown up surrounded by women. Montero took that statement to the realm of care, recalling that it is still women who bear a large part of the work that sustains life, even at the cost of their health, their employment, or their rest.

Before a packed square, the former Minister of Equality defended that cutting rights has consequences for the safety and autonomy of women. Her intervention places feminism among the issues at the start of Podemos' electoral campaign, alongside housing, wages, and the defense of public services.

Housing and public services focus their criticism of the elites

Montero has used a reflection on the possibility of patenting the sun to question that basic needs become business opportunities. From that idea, she has addressed the problems of access to housing, healthcare, and education, with the same warning about the power of those who profit from essential goods for living.

The candidate has contrasted the targeting of migrants with the role of private companies in healthcare, and attacks on trans people with rising food prices. She has also linked rising gasoline prices to wars and Donald Trump's policies. She has attributed social unrest to the decisions and interests of the elites, in contrast to discourses that blame vulnerable groups for everyday problems.

In that journey, she has also placed her discrepancy with the PSOE. Montero has reproached the socialists for raising the tone against the powerful on social media without accompanying it with sufficient measures to improve people's lives. Her proposal for 29N demands intervention in prices and in the distribution of wealth, as well as preventing the PP and the far-right Vox from governing. Social mobilizations, she has argued, are pointing out the problems that institutions must solve.

The criticism has reached the Broad Front and its rapprochement with the PSOE. Montero has questioned whether a socialist executive accompanied by a left too similar to it and willing to integrate into its ballots can respond to these demands. The pact between both forces for the Senate provides context to this reproach. Podemos tries to dispute the vote of those who want to stop the right and, at the same time, demand deeper changes from a future progressive government.

Montero and Rufián advocate for pressuring the PSOE from the left

Among the measures defended by Montero are raising the minimum wage to 1,800 euros, reducing the working day, lowering rents, and increasing taxes on large fortunes and those who concentrate wealth. The current SMI in 2026 is set at 1,221 gross euros per month in 14 payments. The candidate has called for public money to be allocated to public services and has incorporated the protection of the planet into this defense of a life with more security and more available time.

Already with Rufián, both have summarized the main citizen concern as "housing, housing, and housing". They have defended the slogan of one family and one home and have put expropriation against vulture funds on the table. The conversation has extended Montero's argument about the need to prevent access to a home from absorbing family incomes and conditioning their life projects.

The shared image is part of the agreement announced by ERC and Podemos on October 12, which contemplates the incorporation of people from the Podemos space into the republican lists in Catalonia and joint events of their candidates. Montero has defended teaming up with Rufián for his courage and his ability to express demands that other leaders avoid. This collaboration allows them to showcase an alliance in a pre-campaign marked by the separation between Podemos and the Broad Front.

During the exchange, Rufián has defended conditioning the PSOE from the left against the option of submitting to its decisions, and has joked about the margin of command of each one in their party. Montero has acknowledged that they can make mistakes, but has assured that both will respond to the trust of their voters. Amid shouts of "Yes we can," she has claimed that politics should once again address basic needs.