Feijóo's Censure Push Stumbles as Catalan Business Asks for Plans, and Illa Warns Against Vox Alliance
At the Cercle d'Economia in Barcelona, PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo's speech drew a cool reception from the business elite, while regional presidents Salvador Illa and Imanol Pradales warned against any alliance that would bring the far‑right into government.
Feijóo speech leaves business leaders underwhelmed
Alberto Núñez Feijóo's annual address to the Cercle d'Economia, a key gathering of Catalan business leaders, was met with disappointment. He accused the PSOE of systemic corruption but offered no new policy proposals. Attendees expressed frustration.
Ha estado fatal; estamos hartos de diagnósticos. Hoy, aquí, era un día para que saliera a hombros.
The Cercle's president, Teresa Garcia-Milà, had earlier reproached the PP for its inability to reach broad agreements with the PSOE, particularly on a new regional financing model. Feijóo's pitch to the Catalan business community fell flat; one patronal representative called it "indignante" for lacking any plan for the country.
Illa, Rueda and Pradales clash over regional financing
In a separate panel, Salvador Illa (Catalonia), Alfonso Rueda (Galicia), and Imanol Pradales (Basque Country) sparred over the government's proposed financing reform for Catalonia. Rueda accused the central government of undermining the common interest by "playing with bilateralities," while Illa shot back that the opposition had no alternative.
No veo una alternativa conservadora, veo una alternativa involucionista.
Pradales, for his part, warned that Vox's programme would dismantle the autonomous communities.
Si uno atiende a lo que dice Vox, solo podemos tener las alarmas encendidas.
Illa added that Catalonia would not forgive any party that plays along with such a project.
Motion of censure conditions and government response
Vox outlined two conditions for supporting a no-confidence motion against Pedro Sánchez: immediate general elections and no concessions to nationalist parties. Ignacio Garriga, Vox's secretary general, said the party would not hesitate if those were met, but he stressed they were not seeking a coalition government. Pepa Millán urged Feijóo to stop "messing around" and file the motion.
Meanwhile, the government dismissed the PP's overtures to Junts and the PNV. Spokesperson Elma Saiz accused Feijóo of "cynicism and desperation."
Feijóo lleva ocho años insultando a las diferentes fuerzas políticas.
Finance Minister Arcadi España added: "They ask favours from Junts and the PNV after everything they have said about them." Junts had invited Feijóo to Waterloo to discuss the matter with Carles Puigdemont, a proposal that Madrid's PP mayor José Luis Martínez‑Almeida found unacceptable.
Sánchez's allies bet on the legislature's survival
Illa insisted that the legislature still has "much left to run" because Sánchez must deliver on commitments to ERC, including amnesty law effectiveness and the transfer of migration powers. He called Sánchez "the best prime minister in Europe" and recalled that 2023 polls had also forecast a change in government. Pradales was more cautious, describing polls as a snapshot and warning against obsession with a change of government.
Estamos en un momento muy delicado en las siguientes elecciones, y nos obsesionarnos en si hay un cambio de Gobierno.
Rueda, by contrast, argued that the legislative deadlock was obvious and that a new Feijóo government would solve many problems. The Moncloa, for its part, remains confident that neither the PNV nor Junts would commit political suicide by joining a motion with Vox.
