At a Granada campaign rally, Pedro Sánchez said he would seek constitutional protection for abortion rights if he remained in office. He also defended Spain’s euthanasia law and accused Alberto Núñez Feijóo of proposing cuts.
The proposed constitutional safeguard for abortion rights had already stalled in Parliament after an early election interrupted its progress. On 24 October, at a campaign rally in Granada, Spanish Prime Minister and PSOE secretary-general Pedro Sánchez said he would pursue the measure if returned to office after the 29 November general election. The pledge would reinforce an existing right, not legalize abortion for the first time: Spain’s framework is set out in Organic Law 2/2010, amended in 2023, and upheld by the Constitutional Court. The Council of Ministers approved a draft amendment on 7 April 2026 and sent it to the Congress of Deputies, but the election interrupted the parliamentary procedure. The PP has argued that constitutional protection is unnecessary because the right is already established in law and constitutional jurisprudence. The amendment would require completion of the parliamentary process and the majorities prescribed by Spain’s Constitution. Sánchez said he would pursue it if his party remained in government, although the proposal had little prospect of passing without votes from the PP.
The pledge came during a clash with Alberto Núñez Feijóo over the meaning of feminism. Feijóo had described himself as a feminist because he grew up with more women than men. Sánchez argued that the test was whether women’s rights were protected, and criticised the PP leader for proposing to revisit the rules on abortion for 16- and 17-year-olds. A 2023 amendment to Spain’s abortion law removed the requirement for parental consent for minors in those age groups. In an interview with Cadena SER, Feijóo said parents should have knowledge of a 16-year-old’s decision. He also said women should receive high-quality abortion care in both public and private systems, while saying he could not compel an individual doctor to perform an abortion. Sánchez responded on X that “criarse entre mujeres no te hace feminista. Defender sus derechos, sí” (“growing up among women doesn’t make you a feminist. Defending their rights does”).
Sánchez also defended the euthanasia law passed by his government. Feijóo has said he would reform or repeal it if he became prime minister. At the rally, Sánchez described euthanasia as an achievement to be kept in place and accused Feijóo of proposing cuts to public services and workers’ protections, including sick leave, the minimum wage and pensions.
He cast Feijóo and Vox leader Santiago Abascal as allies of Argentine President Javier Milei, whose visit to Spain had become part of the campaign argument. Sánchez contrasted Argentina’s 11 million informal workers and a 40% cut to its minimum wage with Spain’s 22.5 million workers paying into social security and a 66% rise in the minimum wage. Sánchez presented the figures at the rally as evidence for his government’s economic approach. An earlier account covered Milei’s attacks on Sánchez and his criticism of Spanish policy.
Culture provided another line of attack. In Granada, Sánchez invoked Federico García Lorca after reciting “Cantos nuevos,” describing the poet as a figure associated with empathy and acceptance of diversity. He also criticised the PP-Vox regional government in Castilla y León for deciding against subsidies for what it called ideologised films, warning that such decisions amounted to censorship.
The rally, attended by about 3,000 people according to the PSOE, was part of a broader campaign message. Sánchez linked his defence of abortion and euthanasia rights to a contrast between his government and the PP-Vox alliance.
Separately, Sánchez posted a video beside Pablo Picasso’s Guernica at the Reina Sofía Museum, defending his government’s foreign policy and its opposition to war. PP secretary general Miguel Tellado accused him of using a state-owned museum for campaign publicity. Moncloa said the video complied with the law, contained no party logos or electoral messages and dealt with foreign policy, which falls within the government’s remit.
