History of electoral debates in Spain: from Zapatero's "good night and good luck" to Rajoy's "girl"
Debates, that added point of friction that enlivens all electoral campaigns, have had a changing history in Spanish democracy. A formula, that of the dialectical confrontation between political leaders in front of television screens, which arrived late in Spain imported from the US. Experts in demoscopy and sociology say that these public discussions do not change, except for major errors made by one of the contenders, the general sense of the vote, but they do influence when it comes to inclining the undecided towards one of the options that compete in the elections. ballot box. Now that the bag of doubters is large, electoral debates are presented as a useful tool that transcends the power of the already very exhausted instrument of the rally, aimed almost exclusively at consolidating the vote of the hosts themselves.
Felipe González and José María Aznar pose with the moderator of the debate, Manuel Campo Vidal, in 1993. 1993: The premiere
Felipe González, President of the Government, and José María Aznar, a rookie candidate for the PP, were the two protagonists of the premiere of the electoral debates in Spain. That was quite an event and the two that were held, one on Antena 3 and the other on Telecinco, had great repercussions.. The journalistic chronicles of the time speak of Aznar as the winner of the first clash and of González as the winner of the second. The socialist defended his title of president since 1982 and the popular, recently arrived in the field of national politics, aspired to be the revulsion of a change of cycle that was already beginning to be felt in the country. Lacked, however, a last push. The elections were won again by the PSOE although it could not exhaust the legislature.
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and Mariano Rajoy, again together with Manuel Campo Vidal in the 2008 debate. 2008: New faces
The debates were buried for a decade and a half and only recovered when the two major parties went to the polls with renewed faces. With a view to the elections, two debates were held again. On this occasion with Zapatero trying to revalidate the title of president that he had held since 2004 and Rajoy who, after four years leading the opposition, finally wanted to enter La Moncloa. The two fights before the cameras were held at the Television Academy, neutral territory agreed upon by the PSOE and PP campaign managers after arduous negotiations.
The first of the debates is remembered for being that of the famous “Rajoy girl”. The character that the popular leader alluded to as an example of the future of housing, work and security that he proposed for the new generations. For some it was corny, for others a success.
The second has passed to the imaginary due to the farewell that Zapatero used to close his final golden minute: “Good night and good luck”. The mythical phrase of the CBS journalist Ed Murray, in his legendary debate against Senator McCarthy, creator of the so-called “witch hunt” in the US, and title of the film, with a script by George Clooney, which narrates those episodes. Those elections were won again by the PSOE.
Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba and Mariano Rajoy, at the beginning of the 2011 debate. 2011: Two contenders for the title
In 2011 early elections were held called by a Zapatero overcome by the economic crisis who gave up running for re-election. In his place, the PSOE candidate was the until then vice president Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba and for the PP, Mariano Rajoy, leader of the opposition since 2004.
There was only a debate between the two at the Television Academy. The star issue, how could it be otherwise, was the financial crisis unleashed after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and its very serious impact on the Spanish economy. Rubalcaba fought with little chance against these evidences. In those elections, the PP with Mariano Rajoy at the helm achieved victory with an absolute majority.
Pedro Sánchez and Mariano Rajoy, together with the moderator, in the 2015 face-to-face. 2015: Multipartism
Radical change in the history of debates brought about by the entry on the scene of new parties: Podemos and Ciudadanos. In 2015 the debates were lavished. There were two with less impact organized by the Carlos III University and by the newspaper El País. The first was a face to face between the two representatives of the new politics: Pablo Iglesias and Albert Rivera. And to the second, the socialist candidate Pedro Sánchez joined.
Subsequently there were two others organized by Atresmedia and by the Television Academy. President Mariano Rajoy declined to attend the first, who gave up the position to his number two, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, to face Sánchez, Rivera and Iglesias. The debate was attended live by several hundred citizens. In the second only Mariano Rajoy and the socialist candidate, Pedro Sánchez participated. The new leader of the PSOE accused the president of being “indecent” and a “liar” and an indignant Rajoy replied, calling him “petty and mean”.. The elections were won by the PP.
Mariano Rajoy, Pedro Sánchez, Albert Rivera and Pablo Iglesias, in the debate to four of 2016. EFE 2016: A country without a Government
In June 2016, the general elections were repeated due to the impossibility of forming a government. The electoral debate, held once again at the Television Academy and moderated by three journalists, was attended by Mariano Rajoy, Pedro Sánchez, Albert Rivera and Pablo Iglesias. The discussion had two axes: the first, typical of multiple debates, was the clash of all against whoever intends to revalidate the presidency, in this case Rajoy. The second, that of the confrontation between candidates of the same ideological bloc: on that occasion between Pedro Sánchez for the PSOE and Pablo Iglesias for Podemos, the new party that longed for the hegemony of the left. The elections were won by the PP with a simple majority of 137 seats. In those United Podemos elections it reached its historical ceiling with 71 deputies.
Pablo Casado, Pedro Sánchez, Santiago Abascal, Pablo Iglesias and Albert Rivera, in the 2019 debate. PP 2019: Two consecutive clashes
The last electoral debates that Spain has known while waiting for those corresponding to the 23-J election campaign to be agreed, were those held in 2019. Before these elections, two dialectical confrontations were held in which five contenders participated: President Pedro Sánchez, and the PP candidates, Pablo Casado; We can, Pablo Iglesias; Citizens, Albert Rivera and Vox, Santiago Abascal.
Pedro Sánchez refused to participate in a debate alone with the popular Pablo Casado and called for an open confrontation with all the representatives of the main political forces with a special interest in including the Vox leader.
The debates, after many tug of wars, were held on consecutive days: April 22 and 23. One of the key issues revolved around the independence challenge and Sánchez's intention to approach and make concessions to secessionism.
The elections were won by Sánchez but given the impossibility of forming a government, he called new elections for November 10, thus initiating a legislature with the first coalition government in the history of Spain, which is now ending.