Pedro Sánchez kicks off the 29N campaign in La Rioja and asks for 176 seats to stop a government of Feijóo and Abascal: "They are a trip to the absolute past"

Pedro Sánchez set two figures for his campaign launch for 29N this Friday in Arnedo, La Rioja: 75% participation and 176 seats for the PSOE. In his first rally after the official start of the campaign, the President of the Government called for mobilization to achieve an absolute majority and prevent a PP government with the far-right Vox. He also named the dilemma he wants to take to the polls. If Alberto Núñez Feijóo reaches La Moncloa with Santiago Abascal, he warned, the Vox leader could end up in the Vice Presidency. His bet is Carlos Cuerpo.

The PSOE chose the municipal fronton of Arnedo for its first stop after Thursday's opening event in Seville, where Begoña Gómez also spoke. Sánchez was accompanied by the mayor, Rosa María Herce, the general secretary of the Riojan socialists, Javier García, and the heads of the lists for Congress and the Senate, Elisa Garrido and Concha Andreu. In the 2023 general elections, the PP was the most voted force in La Rioja and shared with the PSOE, two per party, the four seats of the community.

Sánchez brings back photos with Marcial Dorado and mocks Feijóo's English

Sánchez took advantage of Feijóo's interview with Jordi Wild, published this Friday, to return the PP candidate's appeal to the "culture of effort". Feijóo acknowledged that a President of the Government should know English and defended his ability to govern. "Let's see if it's true that Feijóo isn't president because he doesn't want to be," Sánchez quipped.

The president also returned to Feijóo's photographs with Marcial Dorado on a boat in 1995. The PP leader insisted to Jordi Wild that he was unaware of his activity. Sánchez recalled that Dorado had already been arrested in 1990 in Operation Nécora. The conviction for drug trafficking came in 2009, when the Audiencia Nacional sentenced him to ten years in prison.

Sánchez also reproached Feijóo for avoiding an interview with Silvia Intxaurrondo and attributed Abascal's absence from Jordi Wild's podcast to the fact that "he couldn't choose the audience". The Vox leader gave another explanation on Thursday in 'Espejo Público'. He said that his party wants to record interviews that are broadcast on delay with its own camera and retain the rights to his interventions.

Cuerpo versus Abascal and a message to unions after the strike

The other interview Sánchez brought to the rally was that of Santiago Abascal with David Broncano on 'La Revuelta', where the Vox leader questioned the role of immigration in sustaining pensions. Sánchez reproached him for his answers about the public system and contrasted his profile with that of Cuerpo, current first vice president and Minister of Economy. "He does know about Economy and a few languages," he said. With that comparison, the socialist candidate brought his warning about the weight Vox would have in a Feijóo government to the issue of pensions.

"Thank you, thank you and thank you, unions", Sánchez said two days after the general strike for housing and the cost of living. He thanked them for their role in the labor reform and the revaluation of pensions, in addition to advocating for the regulation of teleworking and the Rider Law. He also responded to those who, he said, call workers' representatives "trash" or "mafia." "We leave bad manners to those who say 'I like fruit'," he launched.

In the balance of his years in La Moncloa, Sánchez has claimed 400,000 more Vocational Training places and the increase in the minimum wage, which has gone from 735.90 euros per month in 2018 to 1,221 euros in 14 payments in 2026, 66% more. He has also rounded up the scholarship budget to 2.6 billion, endowed with 2.559 billion for this academic year. The average retirement pension, which he has placed at around 1,600 euros, was 1,577.60 euros in October.

The PSOE asks for 75% participation to aspire to an absolute majority

The 176 seats that Sánchez claims are far from the 134 to 143 attributed to him by the latest pre-election poll from the Center for Sociological Research (CIS), which does place the PSOE in first position. The participation bar is also high. In 2023, 66.6% of the total census voted, including the electorate residing abroad. And how much that mobilization yields will depend on where it occurs. In constituencies like La Rioja, with only four deputies at stake, the distribution among candidacies is decided by the votes of the province.

Sánchez has included Feijóo and Abascal in the same political offensive as Donald Trump, Javier Milei, and Jair Bolsonaro and has asked for votes to prevent what he has called "an absolute trip to the past". After Arnedo, the next scheduled stop for this Friday is the Labrit fronton in Pamplona, alongside the Navarrese president, María Chivite, and the socialist candidate for Congress for Navarra, Elma Saiz.