From Sánchez’s smiling balance to Abascal’s dramatic diagnosis: the political messages at the end of the year | Spain

From the casual satisfaction of Pedro Sánchez to the dramatic solemnity of Santiago Abascal, the last hours of the year are leaving a long trail of political messages. Little by little, it has become a tradition: party leaders and institutional officials launch their speeches at the gates of the end of the year, taking advantage of both the opportunity to take stock and the purposes that the date offers and the relative information vacuum.

Smiling, the President of the Government released a two-and-a-half-minute report in which he reviewed month by month “how this Government has improved your life.” The general secretary of the PSOE combined in his list regulations such as that and that of , measures aimed at the “pocket” such as those aimed at improving access to housing – the star issue of the day – and the increases in the interprofessional minimum wage and that of , and extensions of rights such as the increase in birth permits.

Sánchez included an initiative with the unequivocal seal of his partner, Sumar: the requirement of , led by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. And he vindicated his action at the international level. “We stand before NATO’s demand” for 5% of GDP in military spending, boasted Sánchez, who also highlighted the measures adopted to “stop the . “In 2026 this Government will continue to do its best to improve the lives of ordinary people,” he concluded.

At the antipodes of Sánchez in substance and form was Abascal, president of Vox, who in a message lasting more than seven minutes, with his image superimposed on numerous images – among them, the famous photograph of Sánchez with Santos Cerdán, José Luis Ábalos and Koldo García -, stated that he says goodbye to 2025 although what he would like to “say goodbye” to is the current one between the PSOE and the PP. In a speech with a more institutional air than that of the president, Abascal reaffirmed himself in the line that has been giving him success in the polls – and in , at the polls – since his departure from the governments with the PP in July 2024: a criticism of the two large parties, almost without distinction, which he accused of being “corrupt” and of leading a “suicidal consensus.”

Wearing a bracelet with the Spanish flag that read , Abascal stated that Spain needs a “recovery of basic freedoms”, a “radical deregulation” and – on this point he was emphatic, consistent with his main obsession – a . Elaborating on a message that aims to improve his performance in the female electorate, Abascal insisted on the risk that foreigners pose for women, an accusation directed, although without citing them, against those arriving from countries with a Muslim majority. After attacking the “green, gender and fiscal fanaticism” promoted by “globalist billionaires and oligarchs,” the president of Vox asked that the political debate in Spain be “serious and profound.”

The general secretary of Podemos, Ione Belarra, also used social networks – like Sánchez and Abascal – to say goodbye to 2025 and welcome 2026, in her case emphasizing in a message without video the commitment demonstrated by the purple party against Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza. The context weighs: there is tension in the Government between the PSOE and Sumar, which opposes the recent approval by the Council of Ministers of an import of .

Various presidents of communities, using regional television, signed up for the end of the year speech. That of Jorge Azcón (PP) was recorded in Almohaja, a town in Teruel with ten inhabitants, the least populated in Aragon, which allowed the president to address the problem of the in a message that combined the vindication of his management, the “excitement” for the future – “the best is yet to come” – and the demands on the central government in and infrastructure. “We will not tolerate being treated worse than others,” said the president, without expressly citing Catalonia. The PSOE tried without success to annul the broadcast of the message before the Electoral Board of Aragon, considering that it would serve as electoral propaganda before the February 8 elections.

Juanfran Pérez Llorca, from the Valencian Community (PP), fulfilled this institutional rite for the first time after coming to power in November, when he resigned due to his management of the dana. In a speech in Spanish and Valencian in Utiel, “because the worst of the damage was experienced here,” Pérez Llorca showed his “empathy, affection and attention” to the families of the victims. The 2024 catastrophe marked a good part of the speech, in which he promised to work with all administrations, “whatever color they are,” in reference to the socialist government.

He president He maximized his promise of reconstruction and prevention. “I am determined that no neighbor will be afraid again when it rains,” he went on to say, in a message dotted with commitments, such as facilitating access to housing, reducing health waiting lists, lowering taxes and “simplifying administration.” He also stated that he will continue to demand an improvement in the .

María Chivite (PSN), who went ahead and broadcast her speech on Tuesday, did not avoid the impact of the Cerdán case in the community he presides over, Navarra, and promised that they will not “stain the reputation” of the region. In a message in which he acknowledged that corruption “hurts and worries” him because “it damages the system and democracy,” Chivite boasted of economic and employment data for Navarra, among the most prosperous communities in the country, and also of having already approved the 2026 budgets, but he was aware of the problems in access to housing and public health. “And I am self-critical. Surely we are not responding with sufficient agility to your needs, especially for housing and job stability. But hopelessness is the breeding ground for authoritarian populism,” added Chivite, addressing the young people, to whom he told that the right is not enough to face the challenges.

In Spanish and Spanish, the Asturian president, the socialist Adrián Barbón, launched a message of “excitement” and “hope” in which he also highlighted his commitment to alleviating the housing problem.

“Others may entertain themselves by doubting whether they are from here or there, we know that we are Spanish, with great pride,” said Emiliano García Page, president of Castilla-La Mancha, who addressed the issue that has made him the PSOE. That is, the territorial issue, especially the Catalan question. He did not mention Catalonia, but it was not necessary. “We will fight any type of privilege that harms us,” said Page, who moved in a rhetorical field of “dialogue”, “moderation”, “stability”, “common sense”, “sensibility” and “coherence”. “Honesty comes through coherence,” he said after pledging to “avoid populism.” In closing, he asked the people of Castile-La Mancha to turn their backs on those who “seek confrontation to hide their miseries.” He also did not specify who he was referring to.

Each message contained its political key. In a context of growing prominence in the debate on immigration, the Lehendakari (PNV) demanded that foreigners residing in Euskadi commit to integrating with “rights and obligations.” His Galician counterpart, (PP), said goodbye to 2025, continuing with the tradition of his party in the community, in which he aspires not only to attract the conservative voter, but also the Galician one. He did so by paying tribute to Daniel Rodríguez Castelao, father of modern Galician nationalism and intellectual exiled during the Franco regime.

“We cannot normalize the polarization. There is too much tension,” said the president of the Region of Murcia, Fernando López Miras (PP), who wanted to endorse the King’s message on Christmas Eve during a speech in which he boasted about the improvements in employment, was aware of the problems of access to housing and cited the reform of the financing system and the Tajo-Segura transfer as pending challenges.