The Catalan People’s Party presented its Barcelona candidate list in Sabadell ahead of the November 29 election. Xavier García Albiol, the party’s lead candidate, said the PP was aiming to become Catalonia’s second-largest political force and called on voters to unite behind its project.
Albiol framed the choice as one between a government headed by Alberto Núñez Feijóo and a Sánchez-led executive with Ada Colau as vice-president. He also argued that Barcelona had not recovered from Colau’s time as mayor, and said a stronger PP result would give a voice to Catalans whose priorities, in his view, had been overlooked by Sánchez’s government.
A second-place result could also help the party secure a senator for Barcelona, Albiol said. Josep Tutusaus, mayor of Pontons, is standing for the Senate.
Catalan PP leader Alejandro Fernández said the party’s MPs would act as interlocutors with a future Feijóo government and represent Catalans’ needs. He added that those needs would not be negotiated with “fugitives, coup plotters or residents in Waterloo,” and said the party wanted to restore unity among Spaniards, Catalans, and Catalonia and the rest of Spain.
Albiol also addressed his assignment to develop anti-squatting legislation. He said that, according to his figures, most illegal occupations are criminal in nature, while stressing that the bill would take account of input from different groups. He said the proposal should also protect vulnerable families unable to pay for housing through municipal social services.
Sources: La Vanguardia.