Sánchez warns far-right deals could swallow conservatives
In Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, on Monday, 2 November, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez warns that traditional conservative parties risk being swallowed by the far right when they make deals with it. Speaking at Prisa’s World in Progress forum, he says those deals make far-right language and behaviour seem normal. He points to Donald Tusk in Poland and Friedrich Merz in Germany as leaders who, in his view, refuse to cross that line.
Sánchez says crossing it means working alongside forces beholden to foreign leaders and oligarchs, whom he accuses of funding and directing the far right. “Spain is governed from Spain,” he says, “not from Washington, Tel Aviv, Moscow or Buenos Aires.”
Foreign influence and social media
Far-right groups are building alliances across borders to weaken Europe from within, Sánchez says, and have reached Spain. He argues that artificial intelligence and opaque social-media algorithms favour some kinds of debate over others, shaping public and political discussion.
Europe and the housing squeeze
Sánchez names the war in Ukraine, competition between China and the United States, and the costs of the conflict in the Middle East as major threats to Europe. His answer is for European countries to stand together and hold to their shared values.
He says Spain’s economy has performed well compared with others in Europe, but acknowledges that housing remains an urgent problem. Sánchez backs housing policies pursued by the Catalan regional government and Barcelona city council, including intervention in the market. He criticises parties that reject such measures, arguing that the housing market is failing to match supply with demand.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com