By Pedro Canales
In a decision that has surprised both political and parliamentary opposition, as well as his own party, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has decided to call the Federal Congress of the PSOE, of which he is Secretary General, on November 15 in Seville. The congress was originally scheduled for the end of 2025.
The Federal Committee of the party, an organization comprising over a hundred members of the socialist leadership, met this Saturday in Madrid and decided to “support Pedro Sánchez’s candidacy to repeat as PSOE leader” in the upcoming congress.
The purpose of calling the Federal Congress is unclear. In the absence of an official statement of its aims, the highest body of the socialist party will need to reconsider its program, objectives, medium- and long-term strategy, as well as its alliance policies. However, there are fears that Pedro Sánchez will use it to rid himself of all the leaders who question his policies.
Pedro Sánchez’s approach to “the Catalan issue” has caused irritation and confusion within the PSOE ranks. Several regional leaders, such as Javier Lambán in Aragón, or Emiliano García Page from Castilla-La Mancha, have expressed critical opposition to Pedro Sánchez. Other regional leaders in Andalucía, Madrid, Extremadura, Cantabria, or Castilla y León have demanded that the PSOE Secretary General convene the Federal Policy Council, which includes party leaders from all autonomous communities, to discuss the PSOE’s territorial policy.
For the Spanish President, “the Catalan issue” has become the central focus of his political career; a matter centered around two vectors: regional financing and political alliances. Behind this lies the goal of ensuring the governance of Spain on one hand, and the Autonomous Community of Catalonia on the other.
The Spanish government continues thanks to a “leftist alliance” between the PSOE and the SUMAR conglomerate, which brings together groups to the left of the PSOE; and the parliamentary support from Catalan, Basque, Galician, and Canary nationalist and separatist parties. As for the regional government of the Generalitat of Catalonia, led by socialist Salvador Illa, who won the recent regional elections, it is based on an agreement between the Catalan Socialist Party, the separatist movement Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, and the left-wing formation Comuns.
The “alliances practiced and defended by Pedro Sánchez” have caused astonishment and discontent within the PSOE and Spanish public opinion. How can one reconcile the President’s statement that “no one has done as much damage to Catalan institutions as separatism,” with his clear and firm alliance with these separatist movements? In the name of these “unnatural” alliances, the Spanish President has launched severe criticisms against independent press and journalists, as well as against judges and the judiciary in general.
Regarding regional financing, Pedro Sánchez’s government has proposed to consider “its uniqueness” in Catalonia, which implies that the regional government will collect taxes and hand over a part, not yet defined, to the state. A proposal that breaks the solidarity among all Spaniards and regions, as it drastically undermines state coffers from which the education and health systems, as well as Social Security, are funded. There is already an exception to “equality among all Spaniards” which is the Basque economic concert and the Navarra Foral Community, by which these two Autonomous Communities enjoy revenue-raising privileges not available to the rest of the country. But the Catalan proposal surpasses this by far.
Most Spanish analysts and media consider that Pedro Sánchez is at a crossroads, to which the Spanish President has repeatedly responded that “there will be a left-wing government for a long time,” declaring his willingness to “complete the legislature” which lasts until 2027.