The media and the political system

The 20^th century was a participant in the development of theories of the effects of the media.Mccombs and Shaw (1972) show, in their analysis of the media during electoral campaigns, that the public perceives the relevance that the media gives to the issues since they use them to organize their own agenda. In this way, the media agenda is, to a large extent, the public agenda (McCombs, 2006: 25). Years later, the framing theory would explain that not only the topics that people talk about matter but also how they do it (Entman, 1993).

In the polarized pluralism system (Hallin & Mancini, 2004) of Mediterranean countries, such as Spain, the media has close relationships with the political system. The media are political actors “with genuine interests and goals that interact with others, in a permanent process of conflict and negotiation that involves the generation of public meanings” (Aruguete, 2017, p. 38). For this reason, the media must safeguard the figure of gatekeeper, paying special attention to newsworthy events, since it is in them where the partisan bias in the selection of messages becomes important (Haselmayer, Wagner, & Meyer, 2017).

The media have the function of guiding the public. For this, journalists must simplify the complexity of the news about the electoral process: the substance lies in the focus or the line under which the news are presented (Rodríguez & Rodríguez, 2010). In an attempt to attract audiences, there has been a tendency to focus their attention on political candidates rather than on their actions (Aruguete, 2013), which has an ideological background: ignoring structural issues (Edelman & Piatigorsky, 1991).

Public Agenda, media, and Framing

In most cases, there is an adjustment between the media and the public agenda because, in general, the media has a good sense of what is important to the public (Trigueros & Lacasa, 2018). According to the Preelectoral Barometer of the CIS (Sociological Research Center by its acronym in Spanish) of October 2019, the issues that most concerned Spaniards, as the first problem, were unemployment (19.9%), problems of an economic nature (13.4%), pensions (9.9%), problems related to the quality of employment (6.4%), those related to the Welfare State, which are education and health; and, also, the lack of agreements, which leads to political instability in Spain (2.6%).

A second campaign emerges in the media (Padilla, 2015). The electoral debate has two objectives: intellectual confrontation and the struggle to prevail over the adversary (p. 107) and evidence has been found that electoral debates contribute to learning (Meer, Walter, & Aelst, 2016). Furthermore, an interrelation is generated between the political power, the media, and citizens. Political actors compete for media attention. On the other hand, the media compete among themselves to attract the attention of audiences (Donsbach, 1995). The debate also arises in the conversation on social networks. Moreover, it has been concluded that the highest volume of tweets is always given by a television broadcast (Deltell, 2014, p. 34).

The televised debates gather audiences of twelve million viewers (Vidal, 2017, p. 23). They constitute the most important media event of an electoral campaign (Rúas & Quintas, 2020) and are sometimes the most-watched of the television year (Luengo, 2011). There is a certain consensus among academics regarding the fact that debates have a limited impact on electoral preferences and that they influence by acting as reinforcement (López, Rivera, & Araújo, 2017) especially in the undecided (Anstead, 2016). On the other hand, it has been detected that these encounters contribute to the establishment of the agenda (Schrott, 1990). In electoral debates, the media agenda, politics, and the public agenda converge (López et al., 2017). In the relationship between journalists and politicians in televised political debates, prior negotiations take place. There may be armchairs, decide whether to stand behind the lecterns, and even ask questions posed by anonymous citizens or formulate open or closed questions (Barrientos, Caldevilla, & Vargas, 2019, p. 20). 

In the debate being analyzed, the participation of the moderators is reduced to a minimum: checking that the norms imposed by the candidates are met. However, social networks such as Twitter are configured as a space for defining the agenda by public television. Similarly, the days that exceed the daily average of tweets correspond to days in which the parties register more appearances in conventional media, especially television (Marcos, Alonso, & López, 2021). Electoral debates are not a direct vehicle between candidates and voters: there is mediation by the media. The fact of highlighting some actors over others, or mentioning a social problem to the detriment of another, can shape the agenda (Richardson, Huddy, & Morgan, 2008).

Territorial cohesion

The issue of territorial cohesion, with the crisis in Catalonia, was central to the debate. Table 1 includes the topics, with their frames, introduced by each political candidate. Subsequently, we provide the keywords used to interpret the social problem.

Source: RTVE electoral debate. Self-made.

Except for Pablo Iglesias, who incorporated the difficulties of people in the rural world due to access to public services, avoiding the Catalan crisis; and Santiago Abascal, who focused on the autonomies in an economic key, insisting that they represent a “waste” and that they force to choose between the autonomy or pension dichotomy, Pedro Sánchez, Pablo Casado, and Albert Rivera framed the crisis in Catalonia.

Source: RTVE electoral debate. Self-made.

From a presidential position, Pedro Sánchez threw the framework for the analysis of the definition of the problem (crisis in Catalonia) from his interpretation: "The crisis in Catalonia is one of coexistence, not independence." The justification for this issue was found in his criticism of Casado, to whom he insisted that the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (DUI) did not pose a problem of independence. Avoiding the concept of dialogue, the solution he proposed was "to increase the meeting spaces and reduce those for confrontation." His treatment or recommendation of the problem focused on harmony from education, modification of the General Audiovisual Law, and incorporation in the Penal Code of the prohibition of illegal referendums. Another subject that he repeated throughout the debate was that of the three principles of the PSOE around this issue: democratic legality, proportionality, and unity. To establish a position regarding Pablo Iglesias on the Catalan issue, Pedro Sánchez specified his disagreement with the candidate of the purple formation through a play on words: while Pablo Iglesias spoke of political prisoners, the PSOE of imprisoned politicians "for having broken democratic legality." On the other hand, in his criticism of what he calls “the right” -PP, Ciudadanos, and Vox-, he represented it with a nuance: “On the right, they have a problem with Catalonia; we will have a problem in, but they with”.

One of the sources of tension in this block occurred with the insistent question of the popular leader Pablo Casado Casado to the socialist Pedro Sánchez: "What is the Spanish nation to you?" Casado insisted to Sánchez: "A person who does not believe in the Spanish nation does not deserve to be in the race to preside over it." The popular candidate made an explicit and open criticism of Sánchez throughout the entire debate. As he pointed out, "for Mr. Sánchez, Catalonia is a nation and Spain is a nation of nations." The solution for the Partido Popular would be "to guarantee the order in the streets, freedom, conscience, and harmony", applying the Constitution. The Partido Popular candidate, Pablo Casado, articulated his speech around the interpretation of the Catalan crisis. In the opinion of the PP, the attribution of responsibility falls on Sánchez, who is held responsible for not holding elections "in freedom in Catalonia", for not having "applied the national security law", or the "requirement for Torra to comply with the Constitution".

Albert Rivera began the debate with a cobblestone, through which he introduced the issue of the Catalan crisis. He called it a problem of public order and a threat to the rule of law. The solution to the problem, according to the candidate, would consist of applying the Constitution to dismiss Quim Torra, President of the Generalitat of Catalonia. In the interpretation of Ciudadanos, what the "separatists" want is to build "borders between compatriots", when what is needed is "coexistence and large doses of respect, but also the Law." It is interesting how the law serves as a concept to articulate democracy: outside it "is the jungle", while within it is "the Constitution." The line of attack of Ciudadanos is the "40 years of bipartisan cessions", which he contrasts with the need to apply the Constitution (155) "with serenity" to protect the Spaniards "who never protest, but are forgotten."

In Vox's speech, Santiago Abascal based his message on two axes: the attack on the four opponents, on the one hand; and the proposal of measures, on the other. In this sense, Abascal accused Zapatero of eliminating the penalization of referendums from the Penal Code. On the other, he accused Rajoy, of not recovering the penalization. In the present, he accuses Sánchez of appearing next to “a Spanish flag” to later defend multi-nationality. In Vox's speech, the Catalan issue is summarized in a premise: "Permanent coup" for having awarded "the betrayal of the nation." In Abascal's opinion, this has produced the destruction of "freedom in Catalonia", which can only be recovered with the "suspension of autonomies" and the "outlawing of nationalist parties." The justification for these measures would be: "the state of the autonomies has failed" because it has rewarded the "regions governed by the most treacherous and disloyal" with "totalitarian policies that have made us unequal."

On the other hand, from Unidas Podemos, with a speech that moved away from the Catalan crisis, a change of framework was provided. Pablo Iglesias said that talking about territorial cohesion focusing only on Catalonia is a "lack of respect" for Spaniards because the rural world knows another territorial problem: not having access to public services. He also positioned himself, although secondarily, criticizing the candidates for trying to throw "the toughest measure" in Catalonia when, in his opinion, the Catalan crisis "can only be resolved with dialogue, common sense, and the left hand." The justification of the candidate of the purple formation starts from the premise that Spain “is not centralist, many languages are spoken, national identities”, so if there are “conflicts to be solved”, it can only be through dialogue.

Economic policy

The economic policy block was introduced, by the moderators, under the premise of the slowdown in the economy and the fear of a new crisis in Spain. Faced with this reality, the Partido Popular, Ciudadanos, and Vox are betting on speeches focused on tax cuts; PSOE and Unidas Podemos, on the increase in spending. Thus, we proceed to the analysis of the political communication of the political forces in this matter.

Source: RTVE electoral debate. Self-made

hows the topics of the candidates in the matter of the economy, with their respective interpretations. The contribution of Albert Rivera stands out, who, besides incorporating the idea ofrevolution in families, also emphasized the corruption of bipartisanship, in its relationship with the burden it poses to the economy.

Source: RTVE electoral debate. Self-made

The economic policy block, which Pablo Iglesias started, was articulated on the interpretation of the slowdown or crisis: cuts have to be made "from the bottom or the top." Regarding the treatment of the problem of the crisis, Iglesias uses the Constitution as a political program to face it. In his definition of the Constitution, beyond its use to defend sovereignty or apply Article 155, "it cannot be a paving stone to throw at the adversary but rather a toolbox to protect the people." In his speech, he announced a string of articles emphasizing 128: "All the wealth of the country will be subordinate to the general country." Regarding the measures to cope, he introduced the issue of "tax fraud" caused by the "IBEX companies". In this block, Iglesias stressed, again, the need to govern with the PSOE. He pointed out to Sánchez, repeatedly, that "if there is no government of the left, there will be of the right." Relating future government agreements with the economy, he proposed to Sánchez “to govern together” and publish the lists of “tax amnesties”.

The popular candidate, Pablo Casado, opted for a speech based on two axes, which led to his definition of the economic problem in Spain: socialism brings the economic crisis (the 90s and Zapatero's time, which he calls "the biggest hack") and the need for job creation. He referred to the year 2011, "with 3 million unemployed and frozen pensions" and to the present, with a Sánchez who "denies reality."

The leader of Ciudadanos, Albert Rivera, focused his message on the family or, in metaphorical terms, what he called the need for a "revolution in families." The definition of the problem for Ciudadanos is that "the birth rate has been lost." In his criticism of the PSOE, he insisted, in the same way as Casado and Abascal, that Sánchez would raise taxes. His interpretation of this fact is that "an economy that strangles those who generate wealth" is "a country that has no dignity." The strategy of Ciudadanos was based on relating the economy to what they called ICB (Corruption Tax on Bipartisanship). In the line of past elections, the strategy consisted of an accusation of the PSOE and the PP and the need for a "transparent government." According to Abascal, he also pointed out that the Autonomous State, on occasions, had been "a joke."

The Vox candidate, Santiago Abascal, in his definition of the economic problem in Spain, pointed to "a structural framework that ruins us" and based on two spending policies: state of the autonomies and illegal emigration. According to him, the "waste of the autonomies" forces us to choose between these "that ruin and divide" or the pensions. Vox's strategy could be summarized in the following statement by Abascal, reflected in an intervention in the debate: "For the humblest Spaniards, Spain is their only heritage, and only the rich can afford the luxury of not having a homeland."

Pedro Sánchez, in contrast to the rest of the candidates and due to his position as President, ignored the word crisis, alluding to the term cooling of the economy. The strategy consisted, on the one hand, in criticizing the Partido Popular governments, with the lowering of taxes and the pensioners who had lost purchasing power. On the other hand, he emphasized the good performances of the PSOE "in 18 months", as well as the need for a "look to the future" from the "pillars" of the party: grow above the European average or raise the SMI, among others. Furthermore, he announced the economic vice-presidency in case of presiding over the Government, a strategy that he used on more than one occasion throughout the debate. Again, he established a position regarding Iglesias through the perception that the PSOE has about the figure of the businessman. From the PSOE, the framework of interpretation is that if businessmen "pay taxes and generate wealth", there is no problem "if they donate resources."

Social policy and equality

Regarding the Social Policy and Equality block, the debate took place around education, health, pensions, and feminist policies. In the case of Albert Rivera, emphasis was placed on what he called the equality revolution, according to which all citizens, in Spain, must have the same "rights" regardless of their place of origin, referring to autonomies. Pablo Casado dedicated a generous space to blame the PSOE for the destruction of employment; Iglesias reserved most of his time for the issue of social and feminist policies. Pedro Sánchez encompassed social policies and feminism in the same framework of speech and elaborated a critique of the cowardly right and the aggressive extreme right. Santiago Abascal took advantage of the block to talk about two issues: social emergencies and the need for borders to maintain security.

Source: RTVE electoral debate. Self-made

The social policy and equality block was introduced by the journalist Ana Blanco, who pointed out the absence of women as candidates for the presidency of the Government. "They will talk about parity but it is not a picture of equality," she said. The introduction of the block did not succeed in making candidates reserve part of their speech to equality between men and women, which had little presence in this privileged space of the electoral campaign.

Source: RTVE electoral debate. Self-made.

In this block, started by Albert Rivera, the strategy of Ciudadanos started from the premise of a country that cares about families. The main problem of this country, under the interpretation of Ciudadanos and taking into account the economic level, is unemployment. The proposition for this problem is an indefinite contract and protect the self-employed. In the social sphere, from Ciudadanos, it is pointed out that Spain is a "nation of free and equal citizens" regardless of where they live but, in Spain, "one of the greatest inequalities is living in a town or a capital”. In the attribution of responsibility, the nationalists are blamed for the unequal conditions in access to the civil service and that they hold "the true revolution of equality."

The speech of the Partido Popular, in this block of social policy and equality, consisted again in a reminder of measures of the past, well done by the PP and badly done by the PSOE. The topics on which the attack strategy was articulated were: employment, health, and education. Casado attacked Sánchez for causing "permanent hiring to drop." Also, because when the PP arrived in 2011, it found itself with health debt. The proposal of the PP in social policy would go through: increase in scholarships, educational MIR at the national level, Spanish as a vehicular language, and bilingualism in public and private schools.

For his part, Pablo Iglesias introduced the block, in response to Ana Blanco, saying that “in crises, it is women who suffer the most”, insisting that social policies in Spain must be feminist. He proposed measures such as free education from 0 to 3 years of age or the modification of the Penal Code so that only “yes is yes”, referring to all crimes against sexual freedom being considered as rape. From Podemos, Pablo Iglesias criticized that, also in this block, Catalonia was mentioned, insisting on education and public services. Furthermore, he used the Constitution, again, to defend social rights and not only unity in Catalonia: "Education and health are a right, the Constitution says." Also, Iglesias mentioned the issue of the rental market and the limitation of its prices, as well as what he calls the "forgotten": Kelly's, military over 45 years, the right to animal welfare, or maintain public banks. 

The socialist candidate, Pedro Sánchez, in his strategy around equality policies, introduced the debate through feminism, mentioning to Ana Blanco that "it was necessary to improve parity", but that the Parliament of Spain had the highest number of women and the council of ministers with the most women in the world. He blamed the Partido Popular for "leaving a society with fewer rights," referring to the issue of child poverty. As a solution, he proposed measures for the future such as, for example, gratuity from 0 to 3 years or multiplying scholarships and repealing the "Gag Law." In his line of attack, Pedro Sánchez rebuked the extreme right and partners whom he calls, throughout the debate, as the cowardly right and the aggressive extreme right, for wanting to end the Autonomous Communities (CCAA by its acronym in Spanish), repeal the law against gender violence, eliminating democratic nationalist parties, privatizing the public pension system, or making abortion illegal, among other issues.

From Vox, Santiago Abascal raises the speech in a dichotomous key: the old hatreds -such as unearthing the dictator Francisco Franco, represented by the PSOE- and the social emergencies, which would be, as he points out: 32% youth unemployment or “misery pensions”, among other issues. Along these lines, Abascal articulated the concept of security "for women and Spaniards" in contrast to the Law against gender violence. As he understands, this "makes men allegedly guilty." Besides, he relates it to "false accusations" and proposes life imprisonment as a solution. To justify the elimination of the autonomies, he refers to the concept of equality of all Spaniards.

Democratic quality

In the democratic quality block, Pablo Casado opted for a criticism of the PSOE for “not regenerating” what they had promised in the motion of censure; On his part, Iglesias insisted on Sánchez's need to make it clear with whom he intended to agree, making a strong criticism of Santiago Abascal for comparing, in the Civil War, the republican side with the national one. Pedro Sánchez insisted on a solitary government and the rights achieved by the PSOE, in the face of the absence of past freedoms. For his part, Rivera hinted at his position regarding historical memory, which he does not consider as important as "the present and the future." The president of Vox, Santiago Abascal, took advantage of his space to speak, again, of social emergencies but above all, to throw his interpretation on the exhumation of dictator Francisco Franco: historical memory only serves "to confront" and Vox represents what that the "Spaniards needed": the right to disagree.

Source: RTVE electoral debate. Self-made.

The speech that opened this block was that of Pablo Casado who started, also this time, with an attack on Pedro Sánchez based on two issues: motion of censure and instrumentalization of Justice, accusing the secretary-general of the PSOE of knowing the sentence of Francisco Franco or the "seditious in Catalonia" before it was made public. From the Partido Popular, as it was made clear throughout the debate: "The danger to democratic quality is you" and "Pairing with pro-independence disables you as President of the Government."

Pablo Iglesias based his speech on justifying that "decency" went through saying with who each wanted to govern. For this he explained that Spain is a parliamentary system, not presidential, insisting on a left-wing coalition government and pointing out that it was not understood that the PSOE reached an agreement with the right.

Source: RTVE electoral debate. Self-made.

The tense moment of this block was starred by Santiago Abascal and Pablo Iglesias when the latter replied that being a victim of ETA does not imply giving lessons as a “victim of terrorism”. To argue this, Iglesias pointed out that in Unidas Podemos they had victims in their ranks who "do their job" so that Spain "is a better country." Once again, Iglesias appealed to the Constitution, which he said is not "a brick to throw at the adversary" but a "political program."

The socialist candidate, Pedro Sánchez, used the democratic quality block to deliver the premise: "Democratic Spain is the fruit of forgiveness but it cannot be the product of oblivion." In this sense, he introduced the concepts of democracy, Europe, feminism, and tolerance. He assured, on one occasion, that there was not going to be a great coalition with the Partido Popular.

Albert Rivera took advantage of the democratic quality block to introduce his proposal: a new Electoral Law. Ciudadanos emphasized the issue of corruption; Albert Rivera asked Sánchez if with the ERE sentence, if it was convicting, he expected to resign. Regarding historical memory, he argued that he was "fed up with a country that is divided by people like you", and that it was necessary to "overcome the past and look to the future."

The Vox candidate, Santiago Abascal, articulated the strategy of relating the laws of historical memory with the confrontation, understanding that both the republican and national sides "embraced each other in the Constitution." In Vox's opinion, the PSOE wanted to rescue old hatreds. In its line of attack and, therefore, of attribution of responsibility, Vox also accused Podemos of defending a totalitarian regime. In this sense, he insisted that the left has "a moral superiority" that had annulled the right to dissent, which is what "democratic quality" represents.

International policy

The last block, dedicated to international policies, was the one in which the political parties showed the greatest discrepancy. Santiago Abascal devoted a wide space to talking about sovereignty within nations and the borders that, in his opinion, had to be built in Spain. Rivera reserved his space to defend the Unity of Spain in Latin America and Europe. Sánchez, with a more complex speech, spoke of a common European project, at the same time that he used Europe to flatter the sanitary cordon that was made to the extreme right. Pablo Casado, at his insistence on articulating a constant strategy to attack the PSOE and Sánchez, blamed the socialists for the illegal emigration, while proposing a common agrarian policy. And Pablo Iglesias dedicated practically the entire block to defending that, in the face of the economic slowdown, the solution was: "worker safety against the IBEX 35".

Source: RTVE electoral debate. Self-made

The journalists Vicente Vallés and Ana Blanco introduced the block through the issue of the deportation of emigrants and the construction of an impassable wall proposed by Vox. The strategy introduced by Santiago Abascal, in a context of a debate on Europe, was to affirm, in his definition of the problem, that "there is no nation without borders", relating international politics to the sovereignty of nations. From Vox they understand that the solution is dichotomous: identity (represented by Vox) or dissolution.

Source: RTVE electoral debate. Self-made

When talking about Europe, Abascal raises the concept by establishing a relationship with Brussels. According to the far-right party, the problem is that the elites of Brussels "impose mass immigration" and "Islamization", which causes a crisis of coexistence. That is why the solution, for Abascal's party, is the sovereignty of the nations, taking advantage of the "heritage", which is language.

Albert Rivera's strategy consisted in explaining that Spain, at present, does not play a leading role in “important problems”. The solution to the problem would be to raise Spanish culture. From Ciudadanos it is understood that this fact will be forged in a “united” Europe and Latin America, as both are “the future.” On the one hand, concerning Latin America, collaborating with countries with governments of “dictators” to help them in their transition to democracy. In the case of Europe, Rivera once again brought to the debate the issue of the crisis in Catalonia, once again insisting on the defense of the Unity of Spain, but “in Europe.” Furthermore, from Ciudadanos it is mentioned again what they consider to be the vehicle, the economy, stating that “commerce is civilization.” For this, we must bet on “our own products” and “free trade agreements”.

Pedro Sánchez took up the issue of migration to articulate the block on international policies, which he defined as a "historical fact" and not a circumstantial one that is restricted to the arrival of the PSOE, in the context that there are "human beings" on the other side. In this sense, Sánchez took advantage of the topic of Europe to also talk about the sanitary cordon to the extreme right, affirming that justice is carried out "inside and outside the borders." The PSOE's proposal goes through a common European project characterized by social policies.

Pablo Casado articulated his speech on the international policies block around the need to introduce more assumptions in the reviewable permanent prison, alluding to the need to preserve safety in the streets. Regarding Europe, Casado argued the need for a European policy "in which Spain is essential." In the attribution of responsibility, again, the issue of illegal emigration was mentioned, accusing Zapatero of the worst crisis of the cayucos and telling Sánchez that he is an "absolute" incompetent for emigration.

To change the concept of security that the right had introduced, Pablo Iglesias chose to give it another meaning: “neither walls nor racism”. From Podemos, he opted for the "security of the people in the face of the insecurities of the slowdown and the commercial war", which he exemplified with the case of taxi drivers and with families threatened by a vulture fund, the "largest landlord in Spain”. Thus, turning the concept of sovereignty compared to the right, Iglesias said: "Sovereignty is not defended with a flag, it is defended with government measures." Regarding free trade, Iglesias once again turned the debate towards the need to "pay taxes in Spain", taking the opportunity to criticize multinationals that do not do so in the country.

The golden minute

The candidate of the extreme right-wing force, Santiago Abascal, was in charge of presenting the golden minute. Vox's speech was based on proposals for the future (beginning all the phrases with “we want”) through measures to defend the unity and sovereignty of Spain: outlawing separatist parties, reducing public spending as much as possible, combating emigration, and ending the state of the autonomies. In short, the dichotomy: equality in the face of the progressive dictatorship.

The speech of Ciudadanos was based on the premise: "Don't be told that you can't." For this, Rivera articulated a hopeful message: "If you want to change things, you can." The audience to whom his speech was addressed was the working middle class: "To those who get up every day, against all odds", or to those who begin "a project in the face of all obstacles and bureaucracy", referring to his recurring concept in the debate: the true revolution of equality.

Pedro Sánchez used the golden minute to defend himself against attacks for the "hidden pacts" by raising the dichotomy: truth-lie. Thus, he said: "There is nothing stronger than the truth." In the line of establishing a position regarding Iglesias, Sánchez used the Unity of Spain concept to place himself in the center. Unity was related to the policies of the majority: "to safeguard the Unity of Spain we must not renounce social justice."

Pablo Casado's speech also started from the strategy of being in the center, and was articulated around two axes: “Stop the separatists” and “solve the economic and social crisis of the left”. Through the concept of España suma y todo lo que nos une, he introduced the three actors from the like-minded and undecided public: pensioners, young people, and families who, according to him, need “a real government” to lead.

Iglesias' bet started from the strategy of giving voice to one of the millions of Spanish citizens. The protagonist of his story is a young woman, with studies, who works precariously in a job that does not correspond to what she has studied, with functional diversity, and who wants to emancipate herself. She represents the fear of precariousness and of losing one's job. She is one of many in Spain who represents what, in the debate, Iglesias pointed out was the biggest problem in Spain: temporality. Iglesias said, taking her as an example: "Let no one convince you that things cannot be changed", referring to the fact that "a government that defends the people is possible."

Twitter analysis

For the Twitter analysis of @RTVE, we have started from Ardèvol-Abreu's (2015) typology of frames: conflict, consequences, human interest, morality, and attribution of responsibility. Then, when analyzing the tweets, we have added to the definition what we call contextualization tweets of the debate, dedicated to announcing the golden minutes, electoral debates, or polls, among others; on the other hand, the presentations of the candidates, which are tweets used to raise a performance of the past of the political parties, or to contextualize the intentions in the present or the future.

With a total of 37 tweets dedicated to the electoral debate organized by RTVE and Antena3, we have detected that most of them are dedicated to contextualizing the candidates and the encounter (17) as well as interacting with users through surveys or questions. That is to say, RTVE fulfills a mainly informative function. It is followed by the conflict tweets, a total of (9), of which 5 are from the popular leader Pablo Casado in which he talks about corruption, the Catalan crisis (3), and the waiting lists. On the other hand, we have only 1 tweet from Rivera, focused on corruption and Catalonia, 1 from Iglesias asking Casado about the ‘only yes is yes’, that is, related to sexual violence; and 1 tweet in which it is noted that Abascal and Iglesias argue over historical memory.

Source: Self-made.

In the type of morality framing, we have a tweet of the presenter Ana Blanco. It is significant because the intervention of the moderators was restricted to moderation, with this exception. The journalist pointed out that there were no female political candidates at the encounter, pointing out that it does not represent a picture of equality. This intervention was reflected in a tweet, which said:

@rtvenoticias· 4 Nov. 2019

Ana Blanco, to the candidates: "Allow me to make a reference to the photo of this debate, with five candidates and no women present. I suppose you will talk about parity, but, at this moment, it is not a picture of equality." #Debatea5RTVE

Later, in the presentation of the candidates, we see 7 RTVE tweets about Pedro Sánchez; 1 by the other political candidates: Pablo Casado, Albert Rivera, and Pablo Iglesias. In the case of Pedro Sánchez's measures, as we have indicated, RTVE published tweets in response to the PSOE leader's discursive strategy: political measures for the future government and promises of vice presidencies. These were the two propositional strategies of the PSOE. This was a constant in the debate, both on the part of Sánchez and RTVE. We point out two examples that show it:

@rtve

Electoral Debate to 5 | Sánchez proposes three measures in education, the audiovisual sector, and the penal code for Catalonia. #Debatea5RTVE

@rtve

VIDEO | Sánchez announces that Calviño will be the Economic Vice President of the Government. #Debatea5RTVE