Alberto Nuñez Feijoo has pledged to abolish the housing and equality ministries if he wins the November 29 election and forms a government.
The Partido Popular leader told podcaster Jordi Wild that housing would remain a priority, but that neither policy area would have a standalone ministry.
‘There will be neither a Ministry of Equality nor a Ministry of Housing,’ he said.
Defending the proposal, Feijoo cited his time leading Galicia’s regional government, where equality responsibilities were combined with employment.
He suggested that both issues could be absorbed into other ministries.
On pensions, he promised increases in line with inflation and ruled out raising the retirement age beyond 67, which he described as reasonable.
He also proposed tax cuts, although he was unable to provide more details. He said he would first need to examine the public finances because he did not trust the government’s figures.
Feijoo argued that tackling workplace absenteeism could help free up money for pensions, describing it as a problem and accusing some workers of abusing the system.
‘What I ask people to do is go to work,’ he said, questioning peaks in absences on Mondays and Fridays.
On immigration, he backed returning people who enter Spain irregularly, while supporting legal status for those already working off the books, alongside penalties for their employers.
He accused Pedro Sanchez’s government of indiscriminate regularisation and a lack of coherent migration policy.
Wild also questioned Feijoo about his past friendship with convicted drug trafficker Marcial Dorado.
Feijoo said they were introduced by a friend from Galicia’s regional administration and maintained that he had been unaware of any drug trafficking.
He said he broke off contact after learning of a tobacco-smuggling court case.
The PP leader also acknowledged that a European head of government should speak English, despite not speaking it himself.
‘I know how to govern. I haven’t made any effort to learn English though,’ he said.
Asked about his election rivals, Feijoo called Sanchez a ‘great disappointment’ and criticised Ada Colau’s record as Barcelona mayor.
He praised Vox leader Santiago Abascal for building a party that had become Spain’s third-largest political force.
