The Círculo Ecuestre hosted this Thursday the last of the colloquiums framed in the 'General Elections' cycle, which featured Nacho Martín, head of the PP list for Barcelona to the Congress of Deputies in the elections next Sunday, July 23.
The act had the outstanding presence and introduction of the president of the Círculo Ecuestre, Antonio Delgado, and with the participation of the journalist and delegate of the newspaper El Mundo in Catalonia, Iñaki Ellakuria.
Nacho Martín was convinced of the good results that Alberto Núñez Feijóo's Popular Party can achieve at the polls next Sunday, something that he predicted could be "magnificent throughout Spain and historic in Barcelona." In this sense, the candidate assured that Catalan society is asking for a "calm, moderate and pragmatic change in the face of the erratic policies of the PSOE, such as the 'yes is yes' Law or the Housing Law, which have generated so much discomfort".
Regarding the possible pacts, the popular candidate assured that "the ideal would be to achieve a sufficient majority to govern alone", although he believes that "Feijóo's moderate nature" would lead him to opt for State pacts towards the center and not towards the extremes. In this sense, and referring to a possible abstention of the PSOE, Martín considered that it is important that Pedro Sánchez's party "be at the level of a state party" in order to reach agreements that allow governance. Martín gave several examples, such as the support of the PP that in 2008 allowed Patxi López to become Lehendakari or, more recently, the support of the popular Daniel Sirera that has allowed Jaume Collboni to win the mayoralty of Barcelona in the last municipal elections.
Despite this, Nacho Martín did not see the possibility of a grand coalition with the PSOE because he maintained that "Pedro Sánchez has shown sectarianism and a willingness to engage in politics with the Cainite civil war, which, in my opinion, makes it very difficult."
Regarding a possible government agreement with VOX, Nacho Martín insisted that he considers pacts with the center better than with the extremes, although he qualified that "it is not acceptable that the party that has agreed with all the parties that want to liquidate the framework of coexistence in Spain, from the Republican Left to Bildu, tells the Popular Party what the playing field is and defines its possibilities for an agreement."
Scenario in Catalonia
In the territorial sphere, Nacho Martín described as "irresponsible" the position of the Socialists "of threatening coexistence in Catalonia in the event that the PP reaches the government." He also assured that the territorial problem is “that galloping nationalism that excludes from Catalan all those who have Spanish as their mother tongue, those who do not teach hatred of Spain, those who do not have a certain contempt for the Andalusians as a bunch of lazy people and thugs. Therefore, when we talk about the Catalan problem, what we have to talk about is the problems of the Catalans”.
Faced with this position, Nacho Martín defended a "friendly, but forceful" attitude of the PP if they reach the Government and that they seek "great consensus".
Rewatch the full session by clicking here.