Feijóo ties defence spending to an audit and vows to cut ministries

Defence spending and a prior audit

Feijóo, the PP leader and candidate for the presidency of the government, did not commit to the 3.5% defence spending level agreed at the NATO summit. He said his first step in office would be a spending audit, after which he would state what defence spending Spain could reach, and that he would settle for 2.3 if 2.4 proved out of reach. He criticised Pedro Sánchez's stance at the summit where the target was set. Feijóo said nobody knows the current level of defence spending because no General State Budget has been approved during this legislature. He also questioned who holds the defence contracts, pointing to 18,000 million euros that he said had just been awarded.

“We will do the spending audit, explain what spending there is in my country and say exactly what defence spending we can reach.”

Absenteeism and pensions

Feijóo argued that reducing absenteeism could free between 10,000 and 12,000 million euros for the pension system, because part of current sick leave may not be justified. He linked rising absenteeism to higher costs for companies and public administrations. According to his figures, the cost rose from 13,000 million euros in 2000 to more than 30,000 million in 2025. He also said the number of people not attending work each day would have grown from 450,000 to 470,000 in 2018 to more than one million in 2025.

Ministries, housing and aid

Feijóo said a PP government would reduce the 22 current ministries to between 14 and 15, with no Ministry of Equality and no Ministry of Housing, and with those areas grouped into other departments. He called housing a priority and the main problem in the country, while announcing that the PP would repeal the 'decreto Maricarmen', which the Diputación Permanente had approved a day earlier. He added that his government would have fewer senior officials than the current one.

Immigration and the minimum living income

Feijóo said Spain needs immigration but has an immigration problem. He defended regular migration and promised residence permits to people who arrive with a work contract, while those who enter irregularly would have to leave. He claimed that half a million immigrants receive the minimum living income (IMV) without having worked in the last year, a figure presented without supporting data and at odds with earlier Ministry of Inclusion statistics. Recipients would be obliged to accept a job matching their training and skills, and aid would fall to zero if they repeatedly refused work.

“There are half a million immigrants receiving the minimum living income without having worked in the last year.”

Asked to choose between a Spanish citizen who never paid contributions and a foreigner who has worked in Spain for 20 years, he first sidestepped the question and then said:

“The national priority is to change the government.”

Vox, Dorado photos and the campaign

Feijóo acknowledged disagreements with Vox over the idea of Europe and the state of autonomies, but defended agreements in Andalucía, Castilla y León, Aragón and Extremadura. La Razón reported that Santiago Abascal, who had confirmed he would attend, was absent from the podcast. Asked about 1990s photos with drug trafficker Marcial Dorado, Feijóo said he had explained the relationship to Galicians in 2013 and ended it when he learned of a pending trial for tobacco smuggling. He accused Sánchez of financing the PSOE primaries with money from prostitution. The general election is set for 29 November.