The Andalusian PSOE begins its key week today with its sights set on María Jesús Montero

If finally, at the request of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, he confirms his step forward to lead the largest socialist federation in Spain and face Juanma Moreno in 2026, all the unknowns will be resolved immediately. It will have the support of all provincial directorates and will be the figure of consensus that different leaders and sectors have repeatedly demanded.. If this happens, it is in the script that the current general secretary of the PSOE-A, Juan Espadas, assumes that a new stage is opening. And it will only remain to be defined what other names will accompany Montero to exercise leadership in Andalusia and what role the former mayor of Seville will assume.

If finally Pedro Sánchez and María Jesús Montero do not confirm this step, another scenario opens up, the one that existed until events precipitated in the last Federal Congress in Seville. In that script, Juan Espadas awaited an adversary with whom to compete in the primaries who had to emerge from an amalgamation of currents of the PSOE without a clear leadership and very different from each other.. Among them were people related to Susana Díaz, leaders who supported Juan Espadas in the primaries or critical sectors. Within that area a name emerged, that of the Jaén deputy Juan Francisco Serrano who in any case will play an important role in this new stage of the PSOE.

Pending this decision, the process begins today in a regulatory manner with the opening of the deadline for the presentation of pre-candidacies to which it has already announced that it will attend, again, the socialist militant of Seville Luis Ángel Hierreither. It will be open until next Friday.

Subsequently, a process will begin to collect the necessary guarantees, which according to the statutes approved in the last Congress of the PSOE are at a minimum of 12% of the membership. That is, to formalize a candidacy, the support of about 4,800 militants is required.. If more than one person achieves this number, there will be primary elections with a first round on February 1. In the event that no candidate obtains more than 50% of the votes, there will be a second round a week later, on February 8. At the end of that month the new executive will be approved at the Regional Congress convened in Armilla, Granada.

Once this happens, the PSOE will begin the next phase of its internal process with the convocation of the assemblies of the local groups and the provincial congresses to renew or change their leadership. All this should be completed before next summer.

Although Juan Espadas had repeatedly shown his intention to run again in the primaries and aspire to the presidency of the Junta de Andalucía in 2026, This approach was always conditioned by the possibility that María Jesús Montero landed in Andalusia. as other ministers have done in Aragón, Valencia or Madrid.

This represented a change of scenery compared to the one designed by Espadas himself in recent months. In fact, with the support of Pedro Sánchez, he had tried to strengthen his position with his incorporation as spokesperson for the PSOE Group in the Senate, with the restructuring of his team, or with the decision to hold the Federa Congress in Seville.l with the aim of reaching the 2026 elections.