Sánchez vs Feijóo: Who won Spain's election debate standoff?
The only one-to-one debate between Spain's PM and his right-wing opponent before the July 23rd national election was packed full of bickering and interruptions, but analysts agree that one candidate came out of it stronger.
The debate, which aired on Monday July 10th, is the only face-to-face clash Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Popular Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo will have before the upcoming general election in under two weeks.
The intense debate between the pair lasted for 100 minutes and was somewhat chaotic with plenty of reproaches, interruptions, personal attacks and accusation of lying, but the general consensus from the Spanish media was that Feijóo just managed to clinch victory.
Nicknamed ‘El Guapo’ (The Handsome One) because of his photogenic qualities, Sánchez has appeared calm and collected during political debates and was expected to do well on the TV debate on Antena 3 and La Sexta, but the general opinion is that on this occasion he seemed uneasy and anxious.
Meanwhile Feijóo, who is said to be gaffe-prone and awkward, held his own and surprisingly served up several strong blows to the PM.
PROFILE: Who is Alberto Núñez Feijóo and could he be Spain's next PM?
Left-wing El País reported that Sánchez came across as an “aspiring” politician “who could not break the debate” and overall declared it to be "Sánchez's dreadful night".
Journalists at right-wing El Mundo mostly agreed with this sentiment saying that “the socialist candidate appeared nervous and during a good part of the debate he lagged behind the initiative marked by the popular candidate, who was more calm and less defensive”.
A number of Spanish newspapers have run polls (which are still ongoing) asking readers to say who they think won the debate, with the results varying depending on the publication.
Political commentators for El Periódico concluded that it was an unruly debate where none of the two candidates won, but that Sánchez definitely did lose. "The worst debate ever seen in a democracy", “a bitter debate that changes nothing” and "a condescending Feijóo wins the debate by driving Sánchez mad" were some of the words used to describe the outcome by journalists at the Catalan daily.
The pair argued on a range of topics from the economy and social policy to equality and coalition pacts.
Sánchez tore into Feijóo for his connections with the far-right Vox, which the PP will likely have to rely on if they want to govern. Vox wants to roll back policies on gender and LGBTQIA+ rights and also has strong opinions against abortion.
“You have surrendered to sexism with the shameful governing pacts you’ve signed with Vox,” Sánchez said.
PROFILE: Spain's Pedro Sánchez -a risk-taker with a flair for political gambles
“We’re going to win the election because Spain isn’t going to allow you and Vox to put us in a time machine and take us back to who knows where.”
Feijóo hit back at the PM by criticising his party’s political allies – their coalition government with the far-left Podemos and support from Catalan and Basque separatist parties. Feijóo again compared Basque EH Bildu to the now-disbanded terrorist group ETA, which he also did in the run-up to the May regional elections.
"You cannot lecture us on pacts," he said to Sánchez. "Bildu is your partner."
Feijóo also focused on Sánchez left-wing coalition’s controversial solo sí es sí law on sexual consent, which ended up cutting jail time for over 1,000 convicted rapists.
"Those men who raped in the street are in the street now because of you,” he yelled.
Sánchez defended himself but saying that the “legal error has been corrected” and struck back, saying that Feijóo had knowingly made macho statements and that his allies, Vox are against gender equality.
When it came to economics, the PM highlighted the fact that Spain is among a handful of European countries that have managed to lower inflation to below the European Central Bank's two percent target. "We are going in the right direction,” he said.
But Feijóo challenged Sánchez’s economic optimism by rattling off a raft of somewhat dubious figures and using the time to talk about his own ambitions for the economy. He argued that the PM’s claim that the economy was on a roll or “moving like a motorbike” “shows a lack of respect to Spaniards”.
Feijóo disputed the comments saying that Spaniards can hardly even afford to buy groceries because of the rise in inflation.
Tras el debate de ayer ha quedado meridianamente claro que ante la absoluta ausencia de proyecto político, el señor Feijóo solo presentó una montaña de mentiras.
El único proyecto para crear empleo y avanzar en derechos es el del @PSOE. #Adelante#EspañaAvanza#VotaPSOE pic.twitter.com/zLUVGjdrpB
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) July 11, 2023
On Tuesday, representatives of both the PSOE and PP claimed their prime ministerial candidate had won the debate, and Sánchez and Feijóo again accused each other of lying and "messing up the debate".
Sánchez called a surprise snap general election back in May after his ruling Socialists suffered a defeat in the regional and local elections – it was previously thought that they would happen at the end of the year.
READ ALSO: Is Spain's right-wing definitely going to win the general election?
Recent polling suggests that Feijóo’s PP will win, but it could be close because some polls suggest the gap is slowly narrowing and PSOE is making gains.
Crucially, however, there are very few polls predicting a PP absolute majority, so if the Spanish right is to win, they will be forced to be in coalition with far-right Vox.
Feijóo may have won this round, but we’ll have to wait until July 23rd to find out if he’ll come out as the main overall victor.
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The debate, which aired on Monday July 10th, is the only face-to-face clash Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Popular Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo will have before the upcoming general election in under two weeks.
The intense debate between the pair lasted for 100 minutes and was somewhat chaotic with plenty of reproaches, interruptions, personal attacks and accusation of lying, but the general consensus from the Spanish media was that Feijóo just managed to clinch victory.
Nicknamed ‘El Guapo’ (The Handsome One) because of his photogenic qualities, Sánchez has appeared calm and collected during political debates and was expected to do well on the TV debate on Antena 3 and La Sexta, but the general opinion is that on this occasion he seemed uneasy and anxious.
Meanwhile Feijóo, who is said to be gaffe-prone and awkward, held his own and surprisingly served up several strong blows to the PM.
PROFILE: Who is Alberto Núñez Feijóo and could he be Spain's next PM?
Left-wing El País reported that Sánchez came across as an “aspiring” politician “who could not break the debate” and overall declared it to be "Sánchez's dreadful night".
Journalists at right-wing El Mundo mostly agreed with this sentiment saying that “the socialist candidate appeared nervous and during a good part of the debate he lagged behind the initiative marked by the popular candidate, who was more calm and less defensive”.
A number of Spanish newspapers have run polls (which are still ongoing) asking readers to say who they think won the debate, with the results varying depending on the publication.
Political commentators for El Periódico concluded that it was an unruly debate where none of the two candidates won, but that Sánchez definitely did lose. "The worst debate ever seen in a democracy", “a bitter debate that changes nothing” and "a condescending Feijóo wins the debate by driving Sánchez mad" were some of the words used to describe the outcome by journalists at the Catalan daily.
Sánchez tore into Feijóo for his connections with the far-right Vox, which the PP will likely have to rely on if they want to govern. Vox wants to roll back policies on gender and LGBTQIA+ rights and also has strong opinions against abortion.
“You have surrendered to sexism with the shameful governing pacts you’ve signed with Vox,” Sánchez said.
PROFILE: Spain's Pedro Sánchez -a risk-taker with a flair for political gambles
“We’re going to win the election because Spain isn’t going to allow you and Vox to put us in a time machine and take us back to who knows where.”
Feijóo hit back at the PM by criticising his party’s political allies – their coalition government with the far-left Podemos and support from Catalan and Basque separatist parties. Feijóo again compared Basque EH Bildu to the now-disbanded terrorist group ETA, which he also did in the run-up to the May regional elections.
"You cannot lecture us on pacts," he said to Sánchez. "Bildu is your partner."
Feijóo also focused on Sánchez left-wing coalition’s controversial solo sí es sí law on sexual consent, which ended up cutting jail time for over 1,000 convicted rapists.
"Those men who raped in the street are in the street now because of you,” he yelled.
Sánchez defended himself but saying that the “legal error has been corrected” and struck back, saying that Feijóo had knowingly made macho statements and that his allies, Vox are against gender equality.
When it came to economics, the PM highlighted the fact that Spain is among a handful of European countries that have managed to lower inflation to below the European Central Bank's two percent target. "We are going in the right direction,” he said.
But Feijóo challenged Sánchez’s economic optimism by rattling off a raft of somewhat dubious figures and using the time to talk about his own ambitions for the economy. He argued that the PM’s claim that the economy was on a roll or “moving like a motorbike” “shows a lack of respect to Spaniards”.
Feijóo disputed the comments saying that Spaniards can hardly even afford to buy groceries because of the rise in inflation.
Tras el debate de ayer ha quedado meridianamente claro que ante la absoluta ausencia de proyecto político, el señor Feijóo solo presentó una montaña de mentiras.
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) July 11, 2023
El único proyecto para crear empleo y avanzar en derechos es el del @PSOE. #Adelante#EspañaAvanza#VotaPSOE pic.twitter.com/zLUVGjdrpB
On Tuesday, representatives of both the PSOE and PP claimed their prime ministerial candidate had won the debate, and Sánchez and Feijóo again accused each other of lying and "messing up the debate".
Sánchez called a surprise snap general election back in May after his ruling Socialists suffered a defeat in the regional and local elections – it was previously thought that they would happen at the end of the year.
READ ALSO: Is Spain's right-wing definitely going to win the general election?
Recent polling suggests that Feijóo’s PP will win, but it could be close because some polls suggest the gap is slowly narrowing and PSOE is making gains.
Crucially, however, there are very few polls predicting a PP absolute majority, so if the Spanish right is to win, they will be forced to be in coalition with far-right Vox.
Feijóo may have won this round, but we’ll have to wait until July 23rd to find out if he’ll come out as the main overall victor.
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