Spain's Sánchez invokes Asterix, Lula win: 'If Brazil could, Spain can'

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told supporters at a rally in Gijón to be proud of being 'the Gallic village in Europe,' pointing to Lula's victory in Brazil ahead of Spain's Nov. 29 general election.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez urged supporters on Monday to be proud of being "the Gallic village in Europe," invoking the Asterix comics' last village holding out against the Roman Empire as he rallied his Socialist Party ahead of Spain's Nov. 29 general election.

"Be proud of being the Gallic village in Europe and of being a light of hope amid so much darkness in the world," Sánchez told a packed pavilion in the northern city of Gijón. Pointing to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's runoff victory in Brazil, he added: "If Brazil could, Spain can. On Nov. 29, hope will defeat regression."

Pensions in the Constitution

Wearing a red campaign T-shirt, Sánchez framed the vote as a choice between progress and the past, solidarity and injustice, and love and hate. He promised a constitutional reform in the next legislature to protect pensions and their indexation to inflation, and set a goal of 176 seats, the threshold for an absolute majority.

He also said far-right leaders are eyeing Spain, citing support for Vox leader Santiago Abascal from Argentina's Javier Milei, President Donald Trump and Italy's Giorgia Meloni, and told voters that "voting for Feijóo is the same as voting for Vox," referring to the leader of the conservative Popular Party.

Lula returns the favor

Lula thanked Sánchez for his support, calling Brazil and Spain "allies in global progressivism." The Brazilian leader won a fourth term on Oct. 25, beating Flávio Bolsonaro by more than 4 million votes.

The campaign comes after a weekend of unrest in Barcelona and Bilbao, which Sánchez has condemned as "pure vandalism."

Spain's Sánchez invokes Asterix, Lula win: 'If Brazil could, Spain can'