Spain’s foreign minister José Manuel Albares has warned, two weeks before the parliamentary election, against a government led by the conservative People’s Party and the far-right party Vox party. At a Socialist campaign event on 15 November in Ponferrada he said that, in his view, such an alliance would mean a regression in rights and divide society.
Albares contrasted this with a model of social coexistence and progress, which he said his Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party PSOE stands for. The minister said this was an especially decisive election. His warning about a “reactionary coalition” is a partisan political assessment and not an announcement that a government has already been formed.
In Spain, the Congress of Deputies and the Senate will be re-elected on 29 November. Both chambers were dissolved by royal decree in early October. The official campaign began on 13 November and ends on 27 November. Albares heads his party’s list for the Congress of Deputies in the province of Cádiz.
The minister spoke at a Socialist event in Ponferrada, in the province of León. Because of heavy rain, the traditional chestnut festival was held in a school. Albares described the surrounding area El Bierzo as an example of integration and coexistence. He linked this to his appeal to keep the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in office.
The Migration policy was a topic. Albares criticised Vox’s promotion of “remigration” as demagogic and ineffective in tackling irregular immigration. He said that admitting foreign workers was compatible with economic growth, a higher minimum wage and falling unemployment. He said immigration had also contributed to growth and to funding social security.
Representatives of the Socialists from the province and the city also sought support at the event. Javier Alfonso Cendón, the party’s lead candidate for the Congress of Deputies in León, defended the Socialists’ record and accused the right of calling social rights into question. Olegario Ramón pointed to investments and projects in El Bierzo. The speakers’ statements are part of the ongoing election campaign.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).