Feijóo maintains that he knew Dorado had problems with tobacco smuggling

The head of the People’s Party, Alberto Núñez Figo, has to continue to give explanations about his relationship with drug dealers Marcial Dorado, after first Yolanda Diaz and then Pedro Sanchez re-released the photo that was published in 2013, during the election campaign in Galicia, which the current leader of the People’s Party won, for the second time, by an absolute majority.

In an interview this Friday, at the conclusion of the campaign, in Cadena COPE, the PP boss once again makes it clear that when he met Marcial Dorado, he was known to have had problems with Justice for his dedication to tobacco smuggling, even though he had no outstanding problems with Justice. He was later arrested for drug trafficking.

Feijóo asserts that already in 2009 the PSOE threatened him to take that photo if he did not soften his tone against the socialist candidate

Feijóo assures that his photo with Marcial Dorado is “classic”, and already in the Galician elections of 2009 PSOE suggested to PP that if he did not lower his tone, he would take some photos of him with a drug trafficker. “When I met him, he was known to be a smuggler, never a drug dealer,” and his response was “Let them take what they want.”

In 2012 they threatened him with it again and in 2013, in a new election campaign, it was published, after which he held a press conference to give public explanations and appeared in the Galician parliament “where I explained exactly what happened. I met him when he had nothing to do with this matter, and it can be verified and he is in the summary of the National Court, which makes it clear that there are many pictures of this man, even political pictures are not called for everyone.

“In 2016, the then nominee of Xunta, Yolanda Diaz, did the same thing she did now with the photo”

Alberto Nunez FigoPP head

“I did the same thing I did now,” Yolanda Diaz, the head of the People’s Party, recalled in 2016, when she ran for president of Xunta, repeated in 2020 and now in 2023, when they used a photo from 30 years ago against him. “The truth is, I didn’t expect that,” he said.

Feijóo does not understand that this image is very important and nothing is said about the images of politicians who use it, “with tyrannical rulers and people accused of drug trafficking”. The head of the People’s Party indicated that a vice-president in a government banned from entering the European Union had been admitted to Spain. Pointing to Delcy Rodriguez, he confirmed that a few days ago, Pedro Sanchez in Brussels had kissed her in public.

The leader of the PP believes that the Galicians made the difference between knowing someone and having a business relationship or collusion with Dorado

He says he’s not worried: “Really, after 30 years of politics, I’m judged by the Galicians, who differentiate between knowing someone and having a business or complicit relationship, but I confess to my surprise that Sanchez” removed it. And he believes that if the prime minister takes that picture at this stage, there is no need to talk about other issues, such as highway tolls, even more so after the committee confirmed on Thursday the existence of such a commitment, which will have to be activated in 2024.

And when Figo was asked if he would set these fees, he said that he was not very optimistic about the possibility of being able to reverse this “commitment signed by Spain”, which obliges the prime minister who signs it and his successor. What he emphasizes is that “I am not in favor of charging per kilometer”, because that, he said, “destroys the ocean”.

Feijóo confirms he will negotiate with the EU an adjustment slip of 12,000 million he had told Spain he had to do

The popular leader has begun to give notice as to what to do in this and other matter, given the “colossal deficit” that Spain has, and the European Union is already warning that Spain, he said, will have to make an adjustment of 12,000 million euros. What he will do is talk to the European authorities “who have looked the other way during these years of overspending and deficits”, telling them that “if they give in, they will now have to find a slippery path towards the fiscal integration that Europe demands”.

With regard to his possibilities of governance and the need for pacts, as happened in Valencia or Extremadura, Figo confirms that he supports the model of “Andalusia, Madrid or Galicia”, that is, the absolute majority, but makes it clear that if he does not obtain it “I will not give up the ability to rule alone, because it is best for my country.”

He knows it’s difficult, he says, because “the Socialist People’s Party and Vox share the same interest, that it cannot rule alone,” but now he maintains that the decision is “in the hands of the citizens,” who will decide whether or not the People’s Party can rule alone.