Interviews are held in San Jose de la Rinconada town house, just a few kilometers away from Seville capital. It is a fair, and they are looking to make contact with others. A plaque at the entrance explains that it was constructed in 1977. It is the PSOE with its Andalusian roots. Although it is a large venue, the appearance is not as grand as it used to be. It also has a rural setting that retains the noontime smell of lunch being made in the pot, and the friendly greetings from the neighbors. Juan Espadas is aware that his campaign is not against the polls. It’s an attempt to attract a portion of the 30% undecided as the polls indicate. He’s been walking the streets for several weeks because of this. He arrives in comfortable shoes, one of those casual sports shoes. We make sure that his feet are not visible in the photo. 40 minutes interview and then to the fair.
He predicted that elections would take place in spring, and he was correct. Who is the better candidate?
Andalusia is not a good place to hold an election during times of economic uncertainty. The Board has been a stalled machine for months, with no long-term objectives. Andalusia is in a lost decade with 2022. Responsible governments would have done everything to ensure that they had a balanced management team. He said, “I’m not capable of spending the money, nor do I know what. I can’t decide which strategic projects I want to tackle with European funds. Therefore, I’m calling elections.” The participation is low and on tiptoe. We Andalusians must vote in large numbers.
Who does low participation hurt? Because Juanma Moreno calls for mobilization.
-With your mouth closed but not too small. This is the date that everyone who wishes to see a large mobilization wants. He has only one argument: he doesn’t have a budget. Why are you calling June 19 when you haven’t had it since January 1? We have to make sure that the call is legit and that we ask everyone to vote and to understand each option.
More than Andalusia is the pre-campaign campaign in which there is much talk in a national Key. What will this do to the election?
We live in a dynamic national confrontation. This dialectic of right and extreme right against Pedro Sanchez’s Government is preventing us from getting out of it. The sole purpose of these elections is to advance the general election. These elections are not about seeing what is the territory’s project, but to confront Pedro Sanchez. It is difficult for Andalusia’s proposals to be heard, or for Moreno Bonilla to manage. He doesn’t have any relevant projects to present to Andalusians and, aside from managing the pandemic. This is why he has decided not to run for office. When I ask the townspeople what they have done in three years, most don’t know. He tells me that the public health situation is worse and that they want to take down a unit that has been in place for 0 to 3 year. A candidate for re-election must be able tell you what they have done.
However, there are other figures that go along with it, like job creation.
We have just received the unemployment data. We will wait to see their responses. Analysts agree that Moreno Bonilla does not qualify as an analyst. All agree that data on economic recovery as well as employment can be attributed to decisions made by the Government of Spain in relation to public investment and labor market. Moreno Bonilla also voted against these decisions. This does not mean that Andalusia’s employment has increased due to one political decision by his Government. It is caused by the indefinite contract. The PP voted against the labor reform.
-You believe that the Sanchez Government management can be beneficial to you, and so you have enclosed yourself in an act by the president and up eight ministers.
-Moreno Bonilla is a Spaniar who lives off the income of the Government of Spain’s correct decisions during the Spanish pandemic and the structural measures that the left has opposed. I’m not here to vote for Pedro Sanchez, he will. I face politics. The Board’s indolence is against the courage and ambition to take action and seek agreements in Congress. Pedro Sanchez and certain ministers have done this. You need to ask why they won’t invite Mrs. Ayuso back to the campaign. What are the companions to Mr. Moreno Bonilla’s? They are Mr. Muneco who reflects the reality that the PP needs Vox. Or Mrs. Ayuso is sincere and tells the truth, asking Moreno Bonilla to not hide that they would love a government with Vox. Andalusians who remain in his home and don’t vote think Moreno Bonilla will govern. He is only going to open the doors to the extreme right.
-Was it a coincidence that the Andalusia 50 million employment plan was approved by the council of ministers this week?
I believe the same coincidence is being sought by the Board to incite this week’s meeting, where it states that it will approve an employment plan for the governing council. The State Budget had already approved the national plan, so it was not a last-week decision. Relevant is the reason why the Board has not executed the previous plan.
-We are referring to post-election pacts in a national key about emotions… and the propositions? What is the difference between Juan Espadas vs Juanma Moreno in a synthetic manner?
-First, Moreno Bonilla cannot make, that your family physician treat you within 48 hours. Get primary care. To get out of the last position, increase health spending per capita. This can only be achieved by increasing the salaries of health workers to ensure that they don’t go to other communities. We must remind him that he had renounced a transfer of 123 million euros from the State three months ago to fund public education for children aged 0-3 years. We were there from 0-3 years because we believe Andalusia has a need to expand public resources. It is a system that provides equal opportunities for women and allows them to access the labor market. The time has come to take a political decision about the ratio. It can be reduced from 25 to 20, if we continue to invest in education. Public Vocational Training is key to young people’s access to the labour market. This must be done with a combination of strong productive sectors that require young, but skilled workers. Moreno Bonilla is a dedicated financier of private FP. The unit will focus on improving the conditions and salary of home-help workers. We must also generate direct transfer to the municipal services. My mother was one of those people who died along the way.
-The PP also stated that there is a difference in that the PSOE will collect taxes such as inheritance or donations.
It is a place where you can talk about the ERE or the inheritance tax. Are you interested in talking about taxes? I would like to see lower taxes for those with lower incomes or young people who are looking to buy a house. Let’s discuss taxes for those who truly need a tax cut. Let’s also talk about tax credits for rural self-employed to help them establish a community. The inheritance tax has been treated by the right in the same way as the PSOE did for people who had less than one million euros. Who is the winner with Moreno Bonilla’s inheritance tax? Those with a five-million euro heritage.
– In that section, does the PSOE wish to return to inheritance taxes?
He emphasizes that I am not going lower taxes for those with very high wealth. They don’t have to worry about those who move from their small rural area to a larger house in the city for their children. They will not have to pay the inheritance tax through the PSOE. Andalusia shouldn’t save families with assets exceeding several million euros from paying tax contributions in solidarity systems to support public services. This does not mean that you should attack someone with a large patrimony. It is strange that the Minister of the Treasury boasts about reducing taxes by six euros per month for a family with resources exceeding 30,000 euros annually, but does it not state that only those who make more than 80,000 euros per year have lowered their taxes? The Minister of the Treasury basically. He has reduced three thousand euros.
-These are the differences. But there will be something similar when PP asks for votes from the PSOE electorate.
-Someone who hides his initials to ask for the ballot, who is embarrassed of his name and who claims that he is Juanma, and that I am a good person. The shameful thing about this is that he asks for the vote for a socialist to trick him into believing that he is the extreme right, just as he did in this legislature. It is not a moderate who opens the doors to extreme right, but the Vox goalkeeper.
-Does it not seem that some PSOE voters will support the PP in order to avoid a pact?
Vox is not a government. You must vote for the PSOE. Moreno Bonilla is more right-leaning than the coat of arms. However, he is embarrassed by his initials and claims that he presents himself as an independent thinker. His model is Ayuso, which is worse for public health. Andalusia has been deceived by the right. Vote for the left and demand the PSOE to do well.
– The rural area is highly contested. Who is entitled to the rural vote? It has evolved.
In rural areas, we allowed misinformation, neglect, or lack of listening for problems that were present and were being solved to take up space. Sometimes we let it be known in rural areas that we are more concerned about the urban environment. Comparative tort has been a result. The mistake is in allowing a field to be unfenced to many people. This includes the extreme right who in bad faith (I mean the extreme right) have dedicated themselves to creating hoaxes and lying in rural areas to fool people. For months, they have deceived hunters by claiming that we will take their game. Socialists support hunting and will not stop supporting it. Vox is trying to spread a falsehood in rural areas. Moreno Bonilla and the Minister of Agriculture have not provided any hard aid to agriculture. It has been the government. Who approved the food chain legislation? Perhaps communication has not been good enough in rural areas because these measures are being implemented.
-Has PSOE distanced themselves, unconcerned ?
-The PSOE made more decisions in this legislative session for rural areas than any other government. The rural environment is being deceived by the extreme right. He said that perhaps a few months had passed during which there were many uncertainties and very harsh information. We have not responded quickly to these events. We are going to keep you up. Be aware that rural areas have a lot of memories of what the right is. The PSOE is not extinct in the cities, nor does rural people have a bad memory. Rural areas are not able to sell as much smoke as the right.
The surveys show that the PSOE will remain at 2018 levels in deputies, or lower.
This is where the biggest mistake in the polls will occur. They’ve listened very little to the street.
-Wouldn’t it be better if 2018 was a failure?
-We will improve it, but not to the point where we can call ourselves a government. Another scenario is not possible to me.
But, would it be a disaster?
It is unlikely that it will happen. I don’t even think about it. It would be a failure, of course. Keep going with the first, that is what I don’t think about. I am more aware of the reality because of how many hours he spent walking on the streets and listening to people. Moreno Bonilla doesn’t meet with any group and he never stops to listen to the problems of others, except for when they cheer him at a restaurant.
The pacts with 20J are the most talked about. What is the PSOE’s willingness to go?
-The PSOE, a government party, believes that it is better to govern alone than to have a government party. It was done in Seville with an absolute majority. I support the need for a PSOE minor government with agreements with left. Moreno Bonilla’s statement about the possibility of a PSOE government with, I don’t know, how many parties… It’s not my government. It would be a government made up of all the PSOE members and those who feel the same way about me, with a conviction that progress is possible.
-But the PSOE must be at the very least the most popular list.
It will happen, that is for certain. He will feel the same disappointment as 2018 when he went back to Malaga to find Vox there to help. He should not wait for Vox to call him, if they are able.
– Is the abstention to support a minority government in the PP and prevent them from agreeing with Vox?
-Non, no, not at any time. They have the power to declare that Moreno Bonilla does not serve as their president. You don’t have to give him another blank check when you have the choice of a government that has clear ideas about what workers and poor people need. They have the right to decide.
Will Susana Diaz run for office?
She will be a militant and former President of the Board, but she will not have a public focus in this campaign. We don’t want to distort people. We had primaries a few month ago, and we have now proposed a new project. It is impossible to confuse people. Susana Diaz, whom I have a wonderful relationship with, can perform with militants. It was made available right away. The news and image I want are the PSOE proposals, not rallies.
