'Génova' is confident of winning the European elections although it believes that the PSOE can resist by taking votes from its allies

Feijóo is preparing a campaign touring all of Spain in which the amnesty will once again be the protagonist

MADRID, 15 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The leadership of the PP chaired by Alberto Núñez Feijóo is confident of winning the European elections and unseating the Socialists as the leading political force, although it believes that Pedro Sánchez’s PSOE can resist by taking votes from its allies as, according to party sources, it has made in the recent Catalan elections.

In 2019, the PSOE won the European elections with 20 seats (32.82% of the votes) while the PP was second force with 12 votes (20.13%), six points less than in 2014, where the ‘popular’ had garnered 16 MEPs. After Brexit, the ‘popular’ gained a new seat as a result of the United Kingdom leaving the EU, reaching the current 13.

Now, the PP wants to turn the tables and be the leading force in the European elections, following the path of results from the regional and municipal elections on May 28, and the general elections on July 23. What’s more, it aspires to be one of the most influential ‘popular’ delegations within the EPP, even above the German CDU/CSU.

“The objective in the European elections is to win the PSOE, now we have seven fewer seats,” summarize sources from the PP leadership, where they recognize that the fall of the socialists may be less than expected because they can “phagocytize” Sumar and others. allied parties, as has happened in the Catalans.

The ‘popular’ thus lower their expectations to a certain extent against the Europeans – whose campaign starts in a week – and opt for caution. “Sánchez has a bag of votes because his partners are stamping themselves,” sources from the party insist.

Of course, they are clear that the PSOE is “leaning” towards more radical positions to fish in the fishing grounds of Sumar or Podemos, leaving the center vote free. And Feijóo will dedicate his campaign to appealing to that center vote so that they trust the PP, according to party sources.

In ‘Génova’ they emphasize that a good part of the growth of the PPC in Catalonia is due to that center vote coming from the socialist ranks that is “dissatisfied” with the “drift” of Pedro Sánchez and his pacts with the independentists. “You have to go to the center. You can only win through the center,” summarizes a territorial ‘baron’ of the PP.

The PP is designing the European campaign, which will take Feijóo to tour all of Spain, coinciding only in some events with its headliner at the European Parliament, Dolors Montserrat, given that the objective is to “comb as much of the territory as possible.” according to PP sources.

In this campaign, the amnesty will play a leading role, which was practically missing from the Catalan campaign. “We recovered the amnesty due to the legislative calendar,” Feijóo’s team justified, alluding to the fact that today the Senate vetoed the amnesty law on Tuesday and returned it to Congress for final approval, which could be at the end of May. .

The ‘popular’ recognize that the amnesty and its application – with the possible return of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont – will mark the European campaign, an issue that they will exploit in their electoral events. For now, the PP has already called a demonstration in Madrid on May 26 against this rule and in defense of the equality of Spaniards.