Catalonia's PP Stands as a Barrier Against the Grand Coalition with PSOE

Alejandro Fernández is one of the politicians of the week due to the publication of his book A calzón quitao, where he addresses the most uncomfortable issues of his party head-on. The leader of the Partido Popular de Catalonia tackles the erratic alliance strategy of Génova and accuses the national leadership of the chronic failure of the populares in Catalonia.

The distance between the Tarragona native and the current national leadership is well known. A distance that widened when Fernández criticized the courting of Junts after the general elections of June 2023. It now becomes evident again with the publication of this book that corrects the course of the leadership headed by Alberto Núñez Feijóo.

This time he has not only referred to relations with Junts but has been adamant about the need to make a decisive shift to the right. Fernández, who acts as the de facto leader of the opposition in Catalonia, also sets the path for the opposition in Congress. Against the siren calls of the Grand Coalition with the PSOE, the right-wing reference in Catalonia defends the alliance with Vox as the only government alternative.

The Specter of the Grand Coalition with the PSOE

Alejandro Fernández warns of the mistake of exploring any alliance with the PSOE while it is led by President Pedro Sánchez. He criticizes Vox's intransigence in wanting to impose its program despite the PP having more than a hundred deputies over them. But at the same time, he acknowledges that it is the only viable option to offer Spaniards a great state pact to end socialism and separatism.

The challenge to Génova is not trivial, especially after the achievement of an alliance between the CDU and the SPD in Germany. This has revived the idea of a Grand Coalition with the PP in Moncloa and external support from the PSOE. Economic elites continue to push for a centrist government that expels radicalism on both the left and right.

The German coalition coincides with a fortification of the European establishment against the rise of the radical right globally. In Spain, elites are trying to convince Feijóo to make a pact with the PSOE to safeguard the 2030 Agenda against the ultraconservative adventure of an alliance with Vox. In Génova, there is also growing reluctance to make a pact with Santiago Abascal, due to the fear that Vox might end up engulfing the populares.

Growth in Catalonia, Key

But Alejandro Fernández warns of the consequences of yielding to the temptation to shift toward the center. He recalls that the ousting of Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo in 2019 led to the PP's setback against the growth of Ciudadanos and especially Vox. For the PP to have a winning project, an unashamed PP with a clear commitment in the Basque Country and Catalonia is needed.

Fernández comes from the toughest years of the process and now witnesses the alliance between socialism and separatism in Catalonia. Therefore, he is clear that there is nothing to negotiate with either Junts or the PSOE. On the contrary, he is in favor of strengthening the space of constitutionalist right represented by the PP and Vox.

It is no coincidence that Alejandro Fernández has distanced himself from the cordon sanitaire against Vox and Aliança Catalana in Parliament. With this, he establishes himself as the true leader of the opposition against the PSC, but also sends a clear message to Génova. Figures like his or Isabel Díaz Ayuso raise a barrier against the temptation of the Grand Coalition between the PP and the PSOE.