Catalonia’s population has grown from 7 million to 8.2 million in 20 years, a figure RTVE Catalunya’s moderators used to set the context for the immigration debate on 8 November 2026. Held at the broadcaster’s facilities in Sant Cugat del Vallès, the debate brought together all six Barcelona constituency candidates ahead of Spain’s general election on 29 November.
Moderated by Gemma Nierga and Lluís Falgàs, the debate featured Xavier García Albiol of the PP advocating a tougher response to irregular immigration and repeat offending. He said Feijóo had tasked him with a law against illegal occupation and called for squatters to be removed within 48 hours. He also backed reform of the law affecting repeat offenders: Spanish offenders should go to prison, while foreign offenders should be sent back to their home countries by plane. These were campaign positions he put forward in the debate, not measures reported as enacted.
Immigration was the second of the debate’s four blocks. Infrastructure opened the discussion, with railways drawing particular attention after the Urda accident. Candidates criticized railway maintenance and debated the emphasis placed on high-speed services. Gabriel Rufián of ERC criticized successive Spanish governments for prioritizing high-speed rail while failing to give sufficient attention to workers; the PP and Junts also criticized the PSC over railway maintenance. The debate was first scheduled for 2 November, then postponed following a fatal railway accident in Toledo. It was RTVE Catalunya’s first major debate ahead of the 29 November general election.
The other central topics were housing and the preservation of the Catalan language. During the housing discussion, candidates addressed a government decree that failed in Congress after opposition from the PP, Vox and Junts. RTVE linked the defeat to the decision to call an early election. The six participants were Jordi Hereu (PSC), Albiol, Ernest Urtasun (Comuns-Front Ampli), Rufián, Míriam Nogueras (Junts) and Juan José Aizcorbe (Vox).
Ernest Urtasun accused Albiol’s political side of relying on racism and xenophobia to address the country’s social problems. Rufián argued that the left should engage with immigration rather than avoid the subject, while criticizing the right’s approach to poor migrants. The exchange put Albiol’s proposals in the context of a wider debate over immigration policy and how political parties frame the issue.
