PP de Catalunya ratifies Alejandro Fernández and names Juan Fernández secretary general at first congress in eight years

A congress after eight years

The Partido Popular de Catalunya gathered at the Grand Marina hotel in Barcelona on Saturday for its XVI Congress, the first such conclave in eight years. The meeting was designed to project unity and alignment with the national leadership under Alberto Núñez Feijóo after a period of internal tensions and electoral weakness. The congress approved the political and regulatory papers, re-elected Alejandro Fernández as party president, and filled the remaining leadership vacancy.

The new secretary general

Juan Fernández Benítez, the party's spokesman in the Catalan Parliament, was named the new secretary general, succeeding Santi Rodríguez. Fernández, a 39-year-old from Badalona, spent 17 years as a city councillor under Xavier García Albiol before moving to the regional chamber. His appointment gives continuity to the parliamentary project, though it will require him to step back from the spokesman role, with Lorena Roldán mentioned as a possible successor. The national leadership's preference for avoiding dual mandates complicated the reshuffle, but Fernández was the name most widely expected.

In March 2021, president Alejandro Fernández entrusted me with the Secretary General; I don't know if it was to finish me off or because he trusted me, but he gave me that task.

Rodríguez's farewell and the road back

Outgoing secretary general Santi Rodríguez presented his management report, recalling the party's critical period when it held only three seats in the Catalan Parliament. He described a dire financial situation that forced the renegotiation of the headquarters mortgage and staff layoffs, for which he apologised. Rodríguez framed his tenure as one of rebuilding territorial presence, a prerequisite for the subsequent electoral recovery that saw the PP jump from 3 to 15 seats in the regional chamber under Alejandro Fernández's candidacy.

Political roadmap

The congress approved the Political Paper, coordinated by senator Juan Milián, and the Rules Paper, presented by Maritxu Hervás. The political document prioritises law and order, calls for a new regional financing model based on consensus, and advocates for controlled migration flows and the expulsion of irregular migrants who commit crimes. It also demands a reinforced presence of state security forces in Catalonia and positions the party as an alternative to what it describes as a nationalist project of division.

Every deputy, every councillor, every new vote that joins the PP project will bring our president Alberto Núñez Feijóo ever closer to Moncloa.

Provincial leaders set the tone

Presidents of the party's local and provincial boards opened the congress with calls for a new stage of growth. Barcelona local president Daniel Sirera urged the party to open its doors wide and become the common home for those who defend freedom and coexistence. Tarragona president Maria Mercè Martorell insisted that Feijóo must become the next prime minister, calling the current situation unsustainable. Lleida's Xavier Palau demanded more police coordination for safer municipalities, while Girona's Daniel Ruiz praised the human and moral quality of the party's members in his province.

Electoral ambitions

The congress was explicitly framed as a launchpad for future elections. The PP currently holds four mayoralties (Badalona, Castelldefels, Pontons, and Monistrol de Montserrat), 15 seats in the Catalan Parliament, and six in the Congress of Deputies. Party leaders, including Feijóo and national secretary general Miguel Tellado, have had the Catalan branch in campaign mode for months, with eyes on the 2027 general election. The leadership believes Catalonia will be decisive in any change of government in Spain.

We want more. We want more candidacies, more councillors, more mayors, more deputies in the Parliament to be decisive, and more deputies in Congress to take Alberto Núñez Feijóo to the presidency of the government.