Spain's likely new PM absent from crucial last debate before election

Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the man the polls suggest is going to be Spain's next Prime Minister, did not take part in the final leaders' debate on Thursday night ahead of July 23rd's upcoming general election.

Instead, what should have been a four party debate involving Feijóo's Partido Popular (PP), Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialists (PSOE), left-wing platform Sumar, fronted by Yolanda Díaz, and Santiago Abascal's far-right party Vox, was a three-sided debate with the left-wing block teaming up to confront the far-right.

READ ALSO: PROFILE: Who is Spain's hard-left election candidate Yolanda Díaz?

Why did Feijóo duck the final debate before the Sunday election? The main leadership debate between him and Sánchez a few weeks ago had gone unexpectedly well. The PP leader managed to frustrate and outperform the usually telegenic Sánchez, and most political pundits gave him the victory in a debate many assumed Sánchez would dominate.

After the controversies of prolonged negotiations between PP and Vox in the aftermath of May's local and regional election results, Feijóo also likely wanted to keep his distance from the far-right and avoid being grouped or photographed with the Vox leader.

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The debate

As a result Feijóo's absence loomed large in last night's debate. Both Díaz and Sánchez repeatedly referred to Feijóo and tried to tie him to Vox extremist rhetoric, particularly on gender violence and climate change, suggesting that Vox and PP are the same and Abascal was in effect acting as Feijóo's spokesman. Abascal, for his part, rarely mentioned Feijóo by name.

"Feijóo is ashamed to appear with Abascal," Sánchez said. "He is not ashamed to assume his votes or his policies, but to appear with him."

Far-left leader Díaz also suggested that Abascal was speaking on behalf of the Spanish right, claiming: "He coincides with Feijóo, whom he is representing here today."

Interestingly, despite the presence of Spain's far-right and far-left parties, the overall tone of the debate was more civil and certainly more structured than the main leader's debate between Sánchez and Feijóo, something that descended into incessant interrupting and bickering between the two main candidates. 

Though there were flash points in the debate, particularly between Abascal and Díaz and particularly on the issue of gender violence, generally the debate was ordered and civil. Sánchez, who was repeatedly baited by Feijóo in the last debate, appeared calmer and more focused. Abascal, too, for all his incendiary rhetoric, at least tried to appear calm and respectful. 

Pedestrians walk past a giant electoral poster depicting Spanish right-wing opposition party Partido Popular (PP) leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo in Madrid which reads "We may not be your party, but at the moment we are the solution. Vote Feijóo. (Photo by Thomas COEX / AFP)

His debating technique, however, was nothing new. Much like Feijóo had done when face to face with Sànchez, within seconds the far-right leader had alluded to the 'lies' of 'Sanchismo' and advanced the right-wing narrative that Sánchez is a dishonest, power-hungry dictator who relies on the support of communists and terrorists.

READ ALSO: 'Sanchismo': PM's personality cult or Spain's progressive reformism?

Yet Abascal himself repeatedly told mistruths throughout the debate, presenting skewered statistics and in some cases, such as on his party's voting record on labour reform legislation, outright lying. 

Abascal also criticised the PSOE led government's record on the economy, rejecting evidence that the Spanish economy was outperforming other European countries, and focused on the botched sexual consent law that, in his words, put "117 monsters on the street."

Sánchez and Díaz offered very little criticism of one another and both reiterated their commitment to govern again as a left-wing block, framing the choice Spaniards face at the polls as between the progressive PSOE-Sumar block and the far-right PP-Vox block. 

Amid record breaking heatwaves, the Prime Minister also criticised Vox's climate change denial and compared Abascal to other right-wing populists from around the world: "Denying that there is a climate emergency is like denying that the earth is round," Sánchez said, "what fanatics like Trump or Bolsonaro do."

In response, Abascal alleged that PSOE and Sumar "are talking all day about the end of the world and they are forgetting about Spaniards that can't make it to the end of the month."

It is unclear if Feijóo's no-show in the last pre-election debate will have any kind of effect on the results. So close to polling day, it seems unlikely. Polls suggest that Feijóo and PP are on course to win the most votes in Sunday's election, but will likely fall short of a majority and form a coalition with Vox, as they have done in regions including Extremadura and the Valencian Community.

As the debate drew to a close, Sánchez appealed to waving centrist voters who may have backed PP in the recent regional elections. Pointing to pacts between PP and Vox across the country and reiterating their extremist rhetoric, Sánchez framed the vote as existential for Spanish democracy, asking: "Do we want Spain to wake up on July 24th in 2023 or in 1973?"