Feijóo's Path Blocked: Anti-PP Vote Fractures in Spain

Voters wanting to punish the PP seek a Vox counterweight

Feijóo cannot win. This thesis runs through a 239-message discussion that begins with a harsh accusation—"he is just like Sánchez but worse"—and ends up framed as an electoral arithmetic problem. The initial premise is simple: neither the pandemic, the DANA storm, nor rail accidents have allowed the PP leader to distance himself from the Government. And if he does not distance himself before governing, the conclusion is that he will not do so afterwards.

The paradox is that many who reject Feijóo do not call for abstention. They call for Vox. Not out of ideological conviction, but as a counterweight: a party with enough seats to condition the PP and, above all, to ensure the Sánchez case is not buried. "Vox does not want to forgive Sánchez," summarizes the argument. The move has its internal logic and its trap: if the PP needs Vox, the PP is exposed; if it does not need them, Vox remains on the sidelines.

The calculation of useful vote that is not useful

The first block of the debate is a total rejection of the PP. The central argument: the PP held power and did not repeal anything they promised to repeal. The 2010 abortion law, the 2007 historical memory law, the dependency law, same-sens marriage. Nothing. And under Rajoy, the largest tax increase in Spanish history, according to the thread. This is the data repeated as proof that alternation does not change the substance.

Some take skepticism further: "It doesn't matter who wins. Spain is screwed." Others frame it as a cycle: Feijóo comes to rehabilitate Sánchez, and the next one will come to rehabilitate Feijóo. Alternation as a mechanism of mutual whitewashing.

Against this, a current defends voting as punishment. Voters cannot guarantee policies, but they can oust those in power. It is the most repeated argument in the final part: "The voter has only one power: punishing the government." There, the PP gathers votes from those who simply want to see Sánchez gone, without evaluating the program.

Pensions: where PP and Vox are too similar

The subforum is Economy, and it shows. The most technical part of the debate is not about seats, but pensions. The prevailing thesis: the system has three funding sources and all three are exhausted. Either pensions are cut, taxes are raised, or debt continues to grow. And debt has short legs because one day the ECB will say "enough."

The most repeated calculation: those contributing today will not receive benefits, but will continue paying. From this arises a radical stance that makes no distinction between parties: if the right is lost, let contributions be returned. "Either we all lose or nothing," some say. The political consequence is devastating for the PP: if Feijóo does not touch pensions, he fixes nothing; if he touches them, he loses the vote of current retirees.

The DANA storm, trains, and weariness that does not arrive

The initial message lists three fronts: the pandemic, the DANA storm, and train accidents. These are the milestones that, according to the premise, should have sunk the Government but have not. The discussion shifts to the management of the Valencian catastrophe and the suspicion that the PP covers up Socialist corruption just as the PSOE will cover up PP corruption when they return.

There appears the most repeated argument against Feijóo: he will protect Sánchez from justice. It is not formulated as a judicial accusation, but as a political forecast. And from there comes the request that titles the discussion: do not vote for Feijóo. Not because Vox is the solution, but because a PP without a counterweight is, according to this reading, a PSOE with another logo.

The punishment vote left unpunished

The end of the debate leaves a fragmented map. There are those who will vote for Vox to condition the PP. Those who will vote for the PSOE to accelerate the system's fall. Those who will not vote for anyone because "nothing will happen." And those who warn that Vox will not deliver either: "Vox won't do any of what they say."

The prediction with reservations: if the PP wins without a majority and Vox rises, the tug-of-war over ministries will decide if the counterweight exists or is decorative. If the PP prefers to negotiate with others, the electorate demanding punishment will have remained unpunished and with the same Government. Arithmetic does not forgive.