The leader of Spain’s conservative People’s party (PP), which is leading the polls before Sunday’s snap general election, has been accused of sexism after making an apparent reference to the deputy prime minister’s makeup during a campaign rally.
Speaking in Madrid on Thursday, Alberto Núñez Feijóo accused Yolanda Díaz, who is also the labour minister, of massaging Spain’s employment figures, claiming that while the socialist-led coalition government was attempting to pass off workers on temporary contracts as being employees, “the truth lies in the embellished employment figures”.
In what appeared to be pun on the word maquillar – which can mean to apply makeup, or to embellish or massage statistics – he added: “Looking at the deputy prime minister, who’s in charge of employment, she knows a lot about makeup. There’s no doubt about that. A lot – more than ever.”
Feijóo’s comments followed an awkward week for the PP leader. As well as being caught out by a journalist over his incorrect claims about his party’s track record on pension levels, Feijóo has also faced renewed questions about his relationship with a well-known drug trafficker from his home region of Galicia. He then had to pause campaigning because of a bad back and opted out of a debate between party leaders on Wednesday evening.
Díaz hit back in a tweet on Thursday evening. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, Mr Feijóo,” she wrote. “I’d be delighted to debate you tomorrow on the employment figures and on your economic project for Spain. Whenever and wherever you want.”
Her allies were more direct. Alejandra Jacinto, the housing spokesperson in Díaz’s leftwing Sumar alliance, said: “All of Spain saw him caught in a lie over pensions at the beginning of the week. Then he ducked the debate. And he ends the week ripping into Yolanda over the way she looks in a pathetic sexist attack. They’re nervous because we’re going to win the election.”
María Eugenia Rodríguez Palop, a Podemos MEP, said the PP leader’s remarks did not bode well for his dealings with the most senior women in Europe, such as Roberta Metsola, the president of the European parliament, and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.
“Mr Feijóo has always embellished his life and now he comes out with this bar-room rubbish,” she said in a tweet. “And Mr Feijóo wants to lead Spain and to represent us in Europe. I give him about five seconds trying to talk lipstick with Metsola and Von der Leyen.”
Feijóo and Díaz, who is also from Galicia, have known each other for a long time. On Monday, the Sumar leader said Feijóo still needed to clarify his exact relationship with Marcial Dorado, with whom he appears in holiday photos taken in the 1990s and which were published 10 years ago. Feijóo was a senior politician in Galicia before serving as regional president between 2009 and last year. Dorado was arrested in 2003 and subsequently jailed for offences including drug trafficking, bribery and money laundering.
Feijóo has always insisted he had no reason to suspect Dorado was involved in anything illegal, and has said he broke off contact with Dorado as soon as he was charged with criminal offences.
But Díaz said there were still questions for Feijóo to answer.
“If he’s got nothing to hide, he should explain his relationship with a narco,” she said on Monday. “He knew perfectly well who Marcial Dorado was. If any progressive person were to do what Mr Feijóo did, I don’t need to tell him what would be made of it.”
The PP leader replied by saying he was not aware of his friend’s illegal activities. “He wasn’t facing any charges at that time,” Feijóo said on Wednesday. “It’s easier to find out about these things now because you’ve got the internet and Google. When I knew him, this gentleman wasn’t facing any proceedings over drug trafficking.”
Speaking on Friday, Feijóo accused his opponents of trying to smear him, adding that when he knew Dorado, he “had been a smuggler [but] never a drug-trafficker”.
