PSOE cancels Sánchez and Lula campaign event in Madrid over Lula's voice loss

Campaign event cancelled over Lula's voice

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) has cancelled a campaign event planned for Monday, 16 November, in Madrid, where Spain's prime minister and candidate Pedro Sánchez and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva were due to appear together. Socialist sources told laSexta and LaVanguardia that the cancellation was caused by a loss of voice (afonía) affecting Lula. LaVanguardia said the act was to be held at the headquarters of the UGT union in the Spanish capital, as part of the campaign for the general election on 29 November. According to elDiario.es, Lula was also expected to publicly back Sánchez's candidacy at the event, which will not now take place. The sources do not give a new date for a joint rally.

Official meeting in Moncloa still scheduled

Moncloa sources said the institutional visit to the Moncloa palace remains planned for the same day. The bilateral meeting is meant to cover relations between Spain and Brazil and the coordination of global initiatives, including Democracia Siempre and the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty. LaSexta reported that the meeting is maintained for now, while noting that a link between Lula's throat problems and the cancelled event has not been confirmed. elDiario.es had said a joint press conference was to follow the talks. The visit would be Lula's first to Spain since he won Brazil's presidential runoff on 25 October against Flávio Bolsonaro. He is stopping in Madrid on his way back from the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Turkey, and the ASEAN summit in Manila, Philippines.

Lula's recent public appearances

Folha de S.Paulo reported, as cited by Europa Press, that Lula could speak on Saturday but was not fit for long public appearances. The paper said he cancelled statements during his official visit to the Philippines, where he gave no speeches after his meetings and instead released written communiqués. LaSexta reported that he also cancelled speeches planned at the climate summit in Antalya because of throat problems. Europa Press adds that Lula skipped the XXX Ibero-American Summit held in Madrid, citing exhaustion from the campaign in Brazil. Lula's health has therefore shaped much of his international schedule in recent days.

Brazil as a campaign model in Spain

Europa Press reports that Sánchez has used Brazil's example in his pre-campaign rallies to encourage a socialist victory, even though polls forecast a negative result for the party. An opinion column in ABC by María Jesús Pérez argues that the Socialists are preparing measures modelled on Lula's campaign. The columnist says the PSOE has hired André Janones, whom she describes as a controversial Lula adviser on social media. She lists a minimum wage increase above inflation, a pension revaluation and, if needed, a cut to the working week without loss of pay, funded by higher taxes on high incomes. These are the columnist's assessments and are not presented as government announcements in the sources.