Salvador Illa rallies Catalan socialists, defends Sánchez’s record and vows election victory despite judicial probes
The Catalan president and PSC chief used a party meeting in Terrassa to dismiss conservative optimism, claiming the socialists will prevail in upcoming elections while batting away corruption cases circling Pedro Sánchez's inner circle.
Salvador Illa, president of the Generalitat and first secretary of the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC), addressed a national council meeting in Terrassa (Barcelona) on Saturday to fire up the party's base and certify 126 candidates for the 2027 municipal elections. His speech served as both a defence of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's government and a rejection of what he called politically motivated judicial harassment.
A government record worth defending
Illa hailed the Sánchez executive's eight-year balance as "excellent no matter what you compare it with", listing a string of achievements: record employment levels, the highest minimum wage in history, revalorised pensions, and a territorial policy that he said "recognises Spain as plural and diverse". On foreign affairs, he praised Sánchez as "the voice of dignity" calling for a world without wars.
Socialism is the protective shield of ordinary people, not of billionaires. There's a billionaire out there, what do I care? We care about ordinary citizens, those who move the country forward.
Judicial storm and defiance
The meeting came as several cases linked to alleged corruption envelop figures close to Sánchez, and fresh headlines about the indictment of former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero on tax charges. Without naming names, Illa insisted the socialists are "not blind" and "not naive" about what is happening, but demanded respect for the presumption of innocence and the honour of individuals and institutions.
We respect the judiciary, but we also ask for respect for the presumption of innocence, a cornerstone of the rule of law. The socialists neither bend us nor silence us.
He asked the newly endorsed mayoral candidates to go out with "heads held high" and proud of being socialists.
Polls and electoral battle
Illa's defiant tone comes after two polls this week trimmed expectations for the PSC and the PSOE. A Sigma Dos survey for El Mundo suggested the Catalan socialists could lose up to nine seats, while the state-run CIS showed the PSOE dropping 4.9 percentage points in less than a month. Addressing a buoyant PP, Illa warned: "You are mistaken. We are going to win. You will see. Go ahead and be overconfident."
A ten-year horizon for Catalonia
Turning to his own record as head of the regional government, Illa said the return of major companies that had left during the independence push, progress on the Barcelona airport upgrade and a "concrete and precise" funding model were proof that stability had returned. He closed with a long-term pledge: if the PSC remains in charge of the Generalitat for ten years, Catalonia will become "the best place in the world to live".
