Sánchez blames the train accidents on Rajoy's "cuts" and asks to vote like the US: "We have the Pope and the punks"

The President of the Government and PSOE candidate for re-election in the next general elections, Pedro Sánchez, called this Saturday for the mobilization of the vote ahead of 29-N and has once again defended his Executive's response to crises and tragedies such as the train accident in Urda (Toledo), in which there were 69 deaths. "If there is a lesson to be drawn from the last railway accident, it is that it has taken us 15 years to reverse the cuts in investment in railway infrastructure after the wrong neoliberal response to the financial crisis of 2010," he said about the management of Mariano Rajoy's Government.

In his speech, Sánchez referred to the fact that "there are many crises and tragedies, no matter who governs," but that "the key is how you respond." "We have always done the same, we have stood up to those who turned their backs on the victims and turned their backs on their responsibilities," Sánchez claimed.

One day after his pre-campaign event in Valencia, where he praised the resignation of Óscar Puente as Minister of Transport, Sánchez arrived in Tarragona, where he participated in an event before 2,000 people together with the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, and the Minister of Industry and head of the Congress list for Barcelona, ​​Jordi Hereu, among others.

During his speech, Sánchez defended that "in the worst of the far-right wave that the world is suffering", Spain "has been the lighthouse, the inspiration of many citizens, not only progressives, of Europe and the world."

The leader of the socialists has made a plea against wars, to the applause of the audience present: "In the worst of the far-right wave, we said no to the genocide in Gaza, yes to the State of Palestine and yes to peaceful coexistence between the State of Israel and the State of Palestine." Likewise, he noted, "we told the 'technoligarchs' that they were not going to make money at the expense of the pockets and mental health of the citizens of our country."

For this reason, he has been convinced that the "wave of the extreme right" that is already "unraveling" in Brazil and the United States will also "unravel" on 29-N in Spain. "I feel sorry for Feijóo and Abascal, who wanted to ride that wave," commented the socialist leader.

"Even the Pope has voted"

For this reason, Sánchez has stressed the importance of going to the polls as the best recipe against what he describes as involution and has highlighted that this has also been remembered by both Pope Leo XIV and the singer Patti Smith, recent Princess of Asturias award winner: "Even Pope Leo XIV has voted," Sánchez has proclaimed.

"We have the pope and the punk voting in the United States and saying something very important and that is that today what matters is the vote and I tell you: the best recipe against involution is called mobilization and I tell you more: if we vote en masse, we send Feijóo and Abascal home, so let's vote, win and govern for four more years," he highlighted.

In this sense, the President of the Government has warned that the leaders of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and Vox, Santiago Abascal, are "a trip to the past." "The past is the past and Spain needs four more years of progress and that is what we ask of you for the next four years," he stressed.

Sánchez insisted that the elections on November 29 consist of Spain moving forward or the past and its "endless history" of cuts in rights and freedoms.

Calls for a broad and progressive majority

Furthermore, he has stressed that to stop the PP and Vox, a broad and progressive majority is needed that allows us to reach new social achievements "earlier and further."

"For me, after eight years, having a simple majority is not enough," he said, after which he defended that during his mandates "a lot" and "in a different way" have been achieved.

It was then that he recalled the latest crises and tragedies that Spain has experienced and stressed that the key is how to respond to each of them. "We have always done the same: we have stood up to those who turned their backs on Spain and turned their backs on the victims and their responsibilities," he highlighted.

Illa sees Junts positioned in the middle

For his part, the president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Salvador Illa, has accused Junts of positioning itself in the middle before the general elections: "Catalonia will be decisive; those of you who are in the middle, please get out of the way," he said during his speech at the Tarragona rally.

In this sense, Illa has defended that Catalonia "must speak very decisively. The strength of a country. The strength of the people against the strength of big money." "And some say: 'No, I'm in the middle'. In the middle! Together for Catalunya!" Illa exclaimed.

"It is not being neutral; it is being afraid to decide. If you cannot decide, let the citizens decide," he continued, before insisting: "Junts per Catalunya: 'I am in the middle'. In the middle of what? Well, if you are in the middle, get out of the way."

For this reason, Illa has asked himself how one can be in the middle between "some authoritarians" who aspire to govern and the current Government, which defends the Mediterranean Corridor, the historical heritage of Tarragona, the gigafactory in Tarragona, the petrochemical industrial park of Tarragona and properly understood tourism, he said.

He has warned that the candidates to govern are those who "have demonstrated against Catalonia, who say that Catalan, Basque and Galician are provincial languages" and who want to remove these languages ​​from Congress, he said.

He has also warned that they are the ones who "constantly cut rights. How can you be in the middle of this? Catalonia is not in the middle. Catalonia is on the side of progress", of democratic institutions, of moving forward, of housing, pensions and healthcare as rights and not as businesses, he assured.

Likewise, Illa has once again predicted that the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, will not win the elections, precisely because the popular one says that "you cannot be president of Spain if you do not understand Catalonia." "That's why you won't be one. Ever. It's the only truth," the PSC leader also ironically said.