The crisis in Gijón puts the PP and Vox governments on guard against new earthquakes

The three and a half months that the Government has shared with Vox have seemed long to the mayor of Gijón. With a forceful “it's over”, Carmen Moriyón (Foro Asturias) did not hesitate to put an end to her relationship with Santiago Abascal's party this Wednesday.. The city, the largest in the community by population (272,000 inhabitants), has been the first large square in which one of the right-wing pacts has been blown up after the 28-M elections. Moriyón will now have to lead a municipal Executive in a minority – Foro Asturias and the PP have 13 councilors, one from the majority – and puts on guard the coalitions between both forces throughout Spain, with the possibility that the Gijón earthquake has aftershocks in other latitudes. The discrepancies in large cities have not gone unnoticed. And the legislature has only just begun.

It's over.

— Carmen Moriyón (@CarmenMoriyon) October 4, 2023

The mayor of Gijón slammed the table this Wednesday. The trigger was the controversy unleashed on behalf of the International Film Festival (FICX) and the intention of the Vox celebrations councilor, Sara Álvarez Rouco, to make changes to the contest to create an award that reflected the values defended by her training and in turn eliminate an award linked to the LGTBI collective. “Gijón will not experience any setback in its freedoms. “It is a free, tolerant and welcoming city,” the councilor concluded..

“Who do you think you were making an agreement with? You were making an agreement with Vox,” replied the head of Celebrations, surprised by the arguments used by Moriyón.. “Preventing Vox from giving its mark is an intolerable interference that our party cannot accept.”. “It is an abuse of power,” warned the spokesperson for the ultra-conservative formation.. The tensions and discrepancies in the Asturian City Council have been a constant since the beginning of the legislature, as recognized by both parties.

It has not been the only municipality in which there have been clashes. And, although Álvarez Rouco, when asked by journalists, did not want to confirm whether she would be willing to support a hypothetical motion of censure led by the left – she only asked for the mayor's resignation – Vox has it in its power to block any project that promotes the municipal government. This is what happened last term in Madrid when relations between the two parties broke down.. Isabel Díaz Ayuso and José Luis Martínez were unable to update the budgets, in addition to leaving behind many other important initiatives..

Today I made the decision to remove Vox from the local government.

As long as I am mayor, this city will not allow any interference from Madrid or wherever, nor will it experience any setback in its freedoms..

With @FOROAsturias, Gijón/Xixón will continue to be… pic.twitter.com/Eh269GQYBg

— Carmen Moriyón (@CarmenMoriyon) October 4, 2023

The PP, which has five councilors in the Gijón City Council, has avoided taking a position in the disagreement, but the conflict of interests, especially with regard to the field of culture, strains the relationship with those of Abascal in other territories.. The one in Valladolid was a striking case. It was another of the large provincial capitals where the coalition agreement managed to displace the socialists from the mayor's office, in this case Óscar Puente.

The popular councilor, Jesús Julio Carnero, maneuvered to avoid a source of conflict that would shake the recently inaugurated municipal government.. As in the majority of regional and local executives, Vox demanded to take the reins of Culture, a vital area that Abascal's party uses as a way to wave the main political flags of its program. But the PP managed to shield the International Film Week (Seminci) and the celebration of the 2024 Goya Awards by transferring the powers of the major cultural events from the Department of Culture to the Department of Tourism, led by the popular Blanca Jiménez..

Not in vain, the trail of city councils led by PP and Vox made the first headlines of their short administration for cases of censorship of plays, films or LGTBI flags in public buildings. The party led by Santiago Abascal, in fact, made it a priority before the general elections to demand that Feijóo become the Ministry of Culture if he were to win the Moncloa.. The ultraconservative formation understands that, in its political crusade, the cultural battle plays a key role. The result of 23-J frustrated that intention, but it will pursue that objective at the territorial level, where it has multiplied its power.

Territorial tensions in the conservative bloc have not been long in coming. And the demands of those from Santiago Abascal have put the PP on guard in town councils such as Seville or Valencia. In both cases, the popular ones govern in a minority after vetoing the entry of Vox into their municipal executives. But the investiture pact is one thing and the legislature another.. The votes of the ultraconservatives will be necessary for it to get going. And the approval of the municipal budgets stands as the first big stone on the way.

In Seville, Vox has pressured the popular party to enter the municipal government in exchange for approving the City Council's budgets for 2024. The mayor, José Luis Sanz, has so far ignored the demand, but this Wednesday those from Abascal sent a clear message. They voted together with the PSOE and IU and overturned a budget modification that the PP had urgently presented to approve a change of credits for 14 million euros.

Also in Valencia the discomfort has been notable. Vox wants its share of power in the municipal government. “Without the votes of Vox, the governance of the Valencia City Council is very difficult.”. It will depend on Vox and the PP reaching agreements regarding the distribution of powers and delegations. “It is a question of functions,” said the party's spokesperson, Juanma Badenas, this Wednesday, when asked if he will condition his support on the accounts in exchange for entering the municipal Executive..

At the regional level, the relationship has been full of shocks in their first months as government allies. The most controversial case continues to be that of Extremadura. The coalition agreement that María Guardiola reluctantly signed with Abascal's team – she initially denied the option of co-governing with the ultra-conservatives, but Genoa intervened and forced her to rectify – has not calmed tensions in this territory.. A few weeks ago, in the regional Executive there was a threat of a breakup due to some statements by the popular president in which she assured that her relationship with her government partner was “slim.”. And the shock could get worse. The PP of Extremadura has already rejected Vox's demand to implement the controversial parental pin in the region, and that those of Abascal also intend to include in the rest of the autonomies where they co-govern with the popular. The battle on the right has only just begun.