Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appeared on a campaign billboard in Spain. The Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC) placed his image beside US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Argentine President Javier Milei, along with Spain's two main right-wing leaders, Alberto Núñez Feijóo of the Popular Party (PP) and Santiago Abascal of VOX. The billboard aims to drive left-wing turnout ahead of the November 29 election.
The billboard carries the slogan "Si tú no vas, ellos mandan," roughly "If you don't go, they'll be in charge." The message is aimed at left-wing voters who might stay home. It argues that not voting would clear the way for a right-wing government, which the Socialists present as part of a shared international political camp.
The billboard stands in the Catalan city of Terrassa. It drew wider attention after Salvador Illa posted a photo of it on social media. Illa is president of Catalonia's regional government and leader of the PSC. According to the Spanish news agency Europa Press, Illa called on supporters to mobilize for the November 29 vote and warned against the influence of leaders such as Netanyahu, Trump, Putin and Milei on Spain's right-wing parties.
Netanyahu is not a candidate in Spain and holds no role in its political system. Even so, the Socialists have made him one of the symbols of the international camp they are presenting to voters as a threat. Kikar HaShabbat, which first reported the billboard in Israel, noted that placing the Israeli leader beside Putin and Trump gives the campaign a meaning beyond local politics. To the campaign's organizers, the outlet wrote, Netanyahu belongs to a group of leaders identified with the nationalist right and with assertive policies on the world stage.
The slogan itself is not new. The party has revived an updated version of an older campaign message, "If you don't go, they'll come back," which now reads "If you don't go, they'll be in charge."
According to the report, the campaign comes ahead of Spain's general election, in which Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is seeking to stay in power against Feijóo's PP and Abascal's VOX. The Socialists are framing the vote as more than a choice between two options for governing Spain. They present it as part of a wider struggle between the progressive camp and what they call the international far right.
