As presidential hopeful Alberto Núñez Feijoo arrives in a holiday town in Pontevedra he is reassured by local support but faces the possible challenge of working with a rival
ADVERTISEMENTThe small town of Bueu on the coast of Pontevedra is awaiting the arrival of one of its bet known holidaymakers; Alberto Núñez Feijoo, former President of the Xunta de Galicia and candidate in the Spanish presidential elections on July 23.
The leader of the Popular Party is seen every summer in this tourist town in Pontevedra and Manolo Pérez, co-owner of La Estrella de Bueu restaurant, said: "We are proud that he comes to Bueu.
"Maybe you wouldn't get that impression if you see him on TV, but it's quite the opposite. He is very familiar, very approachable. He's kind to everybody."
The conservative leader will go into the elections undefeated, after achieving four absolute majorities in the autonomous community of Galicia.
Feijoo began his political career in Pontevedra and journalists in the newsroom of the Diario de Pontevedra, have watched him closely for many years.
The director of Diario de Pontevedra, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, exlained: "He is a person from whom you cannot expect too many political or managerial extravagances. And that solidity is what I believe has had the greatest impact on the Galician electorate."
Among his main political achievements is containing separatism and the far-right party Vox, making Galicia the only region in Spain where Santiago Abascal's party has no representation.
"The only tool he knows - and which manages to keep the hostility the far-right could bring to a government at bay - is precisely centrism, a commitment to centrism," said Rodríguez.
"Appealing to an absolute majority is exactly what he did in Galicia. It worked for him in Galicia, but it is more complex in Spain."
If he is successful in the presidential election, Feijóo's government will be marked by austerity.
Rodríguez added: "We can expect a president who is absolutely concerned about spending rules and debt rules. He popularised the slogan 'more with less' in Galicia, and I suppose he will try to do the same in the government."
Boosted by his victory in the electoral debate against current president, Pedro Sánchez, Alberto Núñez Feijóo is redoubling his efforts to try to achieve a sufficient majority to govern alone.
However, if the polls are confirmed, the leader of the PP will need the far-right party Vox to form a government. Accustomed only to absolute majorities, one of his first possible challenges as president of Spain would be to learn to share power.