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R 251702Z NOV 09
FM AMCONSUL BARCELONA
TO AMEMBASSY MADRID 
SECSTATE WASHDC 1235
INFO AMCONSUL BARCELONA

UNCLAS BARCELONA 000160 
 
 
STATE FOR EUR/WE MCKNIGHT AND ZERDECKI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV SP
SUBJECT: PP CONVENTION IN BARCELONA TARGETS CATALAN VOTERS 
 
¶1.      SUMMARY:  The center right Spanish Popular Party (PP) 
held its national convention in Barcelona on November 13-15, 
with a view to increasing their support in Catalonia in regional 
elections in late 2010, municipal elections in 2011, and the 
general election in 2012.  Holding the convention in Barcelona 
is among several steps that the PP has taken recently to improve 
its image in Catalonia.  With recent polls showing PP support in 
Catalonia at 11%, many voters see the PP as anti-Catalan, and 
are suspicious that the party aims to weaken Catalonia's long 
fought struggle for autonomy. In a meeting with the CG, Alicia 
Sanchez Camacho, president of the PP in Catalonia, said that the 
party intend to convince voters of the strength of its economic 
plan and will work to decrease the high unemployment rate in the 
region.  The PP leader in neighboring Aragon told the CG that 
the convention was a great success, and that the PP could look 
to a pact with the center right CiU party to increase its 
support in Catalonia.  While the PP is unlikely to overcome its 
historically low support to win Catalonia, increasing its 
popularity in the region will be crucial, as the party looks to 
take the presidency in 2012.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.      During his party's national convention in Barcelona on 
November 13-15, Popular Party president Mariano Rajoy signaled 
that the opposition PP intends to fight a unified and clean 
national campaign to take the Spanish presidency in 2012. PP 
secretary general Maria Dolores de Cospedal said that the party 
has resolved its recent internal turmoil related to several high 
profile corruption scandals and that the PP is united behind a 
great leader, Rajoy. She added that the main priority of the 
Popular Party is to increase its support in Catalonia.  Alicia 
Sanchez Camacho, who Rajoy recently hand-picked as the PP 
president in Catalonia in an effort to improve the party's 
image, played a large role in the convention, emphasizing the 
commitment of the PP in Catalonia, where she acknowledged that 
the party has played a "more residual" role, but will in the 
future be more robust. 
 
¶3.      As PP's presidential candidate for Catalonia in the fall 
2010 election, Sanchez Camacho emphasized her party's plans to 
fight unemployment and said that the PP should be "leading 
change" in Catalonia.  In a previous meeting with the CG, 
Sanchez Camacho outlined her campaign strategies, which include 
an economic plan for Catalonia to overcome the crisis; combating 
the unemployment rate in the region, which is the highest in 
Spain; fighting voter abstention in Catalonia, which also is the 
highest in Spain; and recovering lost social values.  She also 
mentioned PP's growing popularity in Catalonia, where in the 
last year more than 500 people have joined the party.  Sanchez 
Camacho told the CG that she is going to campaign throughout all 
of Catalonia, visiting as many municipalities as she can and 
explain that the PP plan is robust and is not anti-Catalan. 
 
¶4.      During the convention, Sanchez Camacho addressed the 
need to improve the education system and to reduce the drop-out 
rate, which is 22% in Catalonia compared to the European Union 
average of 15%.  Both she and Rajoy, however, avoided mentioning 
the controversial Catalonia Education Law, which the PP is 
challenging in Spain's Constitutional Court because of its 
emphasis on a Catalan rather than Spanish-language education. 
Sanchez Camacho had previously told the CG that parents in 
Catalonia must have the right to choose the language of 
instruction for their children.  She added that the PP asks from 
the Catalan Parliament nothing different than what the socialist 
President of the Basque Government also asks for - freedom of 
choice in education. 
 
¶5.      In her role as candidate for the Catalonia Government, 
Sanchez Camacho said she will fight to change the image of the 
PP as an anti-Catalan party.   Polling data from late October 
show the PP possibly gaining two seats in the Catalan Parliament 
in next year's election, but with the support of only 11% of the 
region's voters.  As with the education law, the PP leaders did 
not speak about the Catalan Statute, which the PP has also 
challenged in the Constitutional Court.  (Note: The Statute, 
which refines an earlier one, details the nature of Catalonia's 
autonomy from Madrid.  Despite Catalan voters and the regional 
parliament approval of the Statute in 2006, it has not yet been 
implemented due to PP's challenge of unconstitutionality. End 
Note.)  Sanchez Camacho has said that the PP will wait until the 
court has decided on the Statute before taking further action. 
Nodding toward the recent corruption scandals involving the PP, 
Sanchez Camacho, who is also a national board member of the PP, 
declared "all parties must fight corruption". 
 
¶6.      In a later visit to Zaragoza, the capital of the 
neighboring autonomous region, the CG met with Aragon's PP 
president, Luisa Fernanda Rudi, who was pleased with the outcome 
of the convention.  She said that the participation of prominent 
economic leaders from outside of the party and the high level of 
attendance made the convention a success.  Rudi subtly commented 
that she hoped the PP in Catalonia would form a pact with the 
center-right Convergence and Union Federation (CiU) to return to 
power.  She mentioned that Catalonia is a difficult political 
region for the PP and the only way to return to power would be 
through CiU's support, as was the case during various terms of 
office between 1980 and 2003 when CiU lacked the absolute 
majority and made pacts with PP.  Criticizing the current 
government's economic plan, Rudi adhered to PP's view that 
increasing taxes and increasing public debt is a big mistake and 
will worsen the crisis.  She also noted the PP's track record in 
reducing unemployment and creating more than 5 million jobs 
across Spain, when PP ruled the country from 1996 to 2004. 
 
¶7.      COMMENT:  The convention can be seen as a success for 
President Rajoy, serving both to promote Sanchez Camacho as a 
presidential candidate for Catalonia and presenting the PP as a 
viable alternative to the socialist government.  At the same 
time Rajoy said that the Basque pact (a pact between the PP and 
the socialist PSOE to remove the Basque Nationalist Party from 
power after the March 2009 regional elections) could be 
transferred to Catalonia, an idea that the Catalan socialist 
leadership summarily rejected.  In order to help Rajoy become 
president of Spain in 2012, the PP must increase its 
representation in Catalonia.  Rajoy believes that the PP in 
Catalonia is in good hands.  Sanchez Camacho is a hard-working, 
energetic, and capable leader, and is Catalan.  While Sanchez 
Camacho is not likely to win the Catalonia presidency, any 
increase in the number of parliamentary seats she can gain for 
her party in 2010 will boost the PP's strength in the 2011 
municipal elections and the 2012 general election.  END COMMENT. 
 
 
CROUCH