Rosario Sánchez runs to replace Armengol as number one of the PSIB in 2027

PalmaRosario Sánchez has put herself forward this Monday to replace former president Francina Armengol as the PSIB's lead candidate in the 2027 regional elections. The Secretary of State for Tourism announced this in a video on social media in which, from her neighborhood in Cala Major (Palma), she called on voters to turn from "resignation" to "hope".

"Now is not the time for excuses, it is the time for solutions", the socialist highlighted in the video, in which she announced that she is running in the party primaries to be the candidate. "Every day they want us to believe that there is nothing to be done, that the lack of equal opportunities, public services, and housing has no remedy", she assured: "I tell you yes, there is hope". Thus, she announced that in the coming days she will give the details of her project.

Sánchez has taken a step forward after the President of Congress and Secretary General of PSIB-PSOE, Francina Armengol, announced last Saturday that she will not run in the primaries. Armengol's statement was the essential requirement for PSIB to formalize a bid for 2027, an electoral event that socialists view with concern, as polls are not in their favor.

The socialist is a figure close to Armengol with her own profile in Madrid, who starts with the blessing of the state PSOE. She was also a delegate of the Spanish government and Minister of Finance in the Balearic Islands: her extensive career assures her a deep knowledge of institutions. She has stood out as a management profile – she holds a degree in Economics and Business Administration and Management – and her colleagues emphasize her great work capacity.

Challenge: to overcome meager expectations

Sánchez faces the major challenge of reviving the expectations of a party in the midst of a journey through the desert after losing institutional power in 2023, having waited until the last minute to bet on an alternative candidate to Armengol and now having only one year to make the new future list leader known. Although Sánchez's candidacy will have to go through primaries, it is the option of the apparatus and all predictions point to him being confirmed as number one.

In parallel, the PSOE continues to be besieged by corruption cases affecting top figures of the Spanish government in Madrid. The Supreme Court has this very Monday sentenced former minister and Pedro Sánchez's strongman José Luis Ábalos to 24 years in prison; and his former advisor Koldo García to 19 years, who allegedly pressured the Balearic Government to manage contracts for sanitary material, although the courts have not detected irregularities on the part of the Armengol Executive. On the other hand, Judge Juan Carlos Peinado decided last Saturday to withdraw the passport of the president's wife, Begoña Gómez, accused of alleged crimes of influence peddling and corruption, a decision that has strained the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), which is investigating whether Peinado has acted correctly.