Génova has tiptoed over the reasons why 23-J ruined Alberto Núñez Feijóo's options to become president of the Government. If there are thoughtful internal analyses, they have not transcended. The most widespread explanation is that the pacts with Vox in the autonomies were poorly managed and that the PSOE built its campaign on these alliances.. There were agreements in the Valencian Community, Extremadura, Aragon, the Balearic Islands and Murcia, which were added to the one that already existed in Castilla y León. The extreme right is part of all governments, except for the Islands. They must live together for four years. Although there are already predictions about the disappearance of Vox, the renowned economist Jesús Fernández-Villaverde, who collaborates in this newspaper, defended in a recent conference at the Rafael del Pino Foundation, that Santiago Abascal's formation will survive like other sister parties in the rest of Europe. It is not Citizens.
The relationship that the PP intends to establish with them is different in each community. And, as happened after the regional and municipal elections, the leadership gives its barons freedom. The reason, they explain, is that Feijóo would never have achieved his absolute majorities in Galicia, if the voter had perceived that he was acting under the dictates of Genoa.. They will let them plan their own strategy, but they will demand results in the next elections. This is how the barons intend to gobble up Vox in the coming years.
Valencian Community
In the territory where Vox has gained the most institutional advantage after 28M – a first vice presidency of Culture and Sports and the Ministries of Justice and the Interior and of Agriculture – concern about the competition of its partners is almost non-existent. “They have no idea about the Administration,” explain PP sources, “they are politically very lazy” and “they lack an organic structure”. Furthermore, “they don't even know who he has named because many people have been imposed on them from Madrid”. And that makes them feel “insecure” and lean on the president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón.. For these reasons they do not see a need for planning to erode them: “You don't have to want to eat them, they are going to disappear on their own.”. All political discourse, they point out, is carried out by the president, who is an “emerging leadership”. And that shrinks Vox's space. It has monopolized most of the measures—elimination of the inheritance and donation tax, tax reduction and reduction of positions in the Administration—and, for the moment, it has not had a single brush with Vox. Mazón's aspiration is to consolidate an ideological renewal, which reconnects the PP with Valencian society in a broad way and provides it with an absolute majority.. “And as long as Pedro Sánchez remains in the Government, we will do well”. Vox, they believe, will simply evaporate.
Estremadura
At the antipodes of the Valencian PP. Neither the extreme right has had such a strong impact there (8.12% of the vote) nor is María Guardiola's profile so presidentialist.. Contrary to agreeing with Vox, Génova forced it due to the risk that the government of its community, traditionally socialist, would escape. His “word” was very touched. He gave them Forest Management and Rural World and the counselor, an independent, resigned after 77 days, due to “disagreements” with the national management, which tries to control the management from Madrid. Sources from the Extremaduran PP point to Vox's lack of territorial implementation and the absence of previous experience as its great weaknesses. “They are people who have never worked as a team and it is taking its toll on them.” Over time, they maintain, they will become absorbed. They achieved 50,000 votes (5 seats) and with 12,000 less “you are left out of the Assembly.” The popular ones do not pay close attention to their partners, but rather focus on conveying that there is a “powerful” Executive, with a project for Extremadura. The announcements are capitalized by the Government spokesperson because, they confess, now “there is no interest” in excessive media exposure of Guardiola, after all the controversy with which he began his leadership.
Aragon
Jorge Azcón is another president that his party sees as having a “national” projection. And there are two. Let Juanma Moreno and Isabel Díaz Ayuso prepare. There, cohabitation with Vox in the Government is “good.” They manage the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Agriculture. They give them space, they let them make their own announcements. They have no complaints. Popular sources do consider that Vox's work may be “diluted” by Azcón's “high profile.” “By simple decantation.” A PP baron with a “tour” in front of a regional leader of Abascal's party. But, be careful, they warn, “in Aragon we are not interested in eating Vox” because no one has ever had an absolute majority. Fragmentation—there are eight parties in Parliament—is an Aragonese trademark, “it is linked to the community.” Therefore, they emphasize, “we will need them to continue in the Government.”
Balearics
The Islands were the place where collusion with Vox seemed most bearable because they are not part of Marga Prohens' Government. But this is exactly where the situation has become most tense.. Vox puts the next budgets at risk by refusing to support the spending ceiling. The reason is that they demand to now implement the free choice of language with the splitting of lines. The popular ones do not refuse, it is part of the programmatic pact, but, they emphasize, with the speed they demand, “it cannot be executed.” The conversations continue. Even Abascal's mediation was sought, but he has not been able, for now, to prevail. Vox was founded on groups opposed to the majority use of Catalan and they have imposed their approach on the parliamentary group. Of the five deputies, one left this week due to disagreements with the rest.
In the PP they know that “unlike Ciudadanos, Vox is not an anecdote.” They have “a certain structure.” But they believe that their future depends on the national brand. The popular parties have the capacity to grow with the lost votes of Cs and the PI, who were left out of the Parliament. Also from Vox. “They are PP voters who can return if Abascal does not pull” or because they do not understand that they “hinder” the governability of Prohens. The priority is to resolve this crisis. “The relationship until now was cordial and they did not seek confrontation”. They were going to capitalize on some issues with bills in the House. But with the tongue they are in “maximum positions”. Prohens, they say, has made “keeping his word” his political motto, and “he is not going to make impossible promises.”.
Murcia
During the campaign, Fernando López Miras dreamed of a government alone, but he was missing two seats. Despite this eventuality, he continued dreaming. The prospect of repeating the elections due to the castling of Vox, which refused to support him if he did not make room for them in his Executive, postponed the pact with the extreme right until the first days of September. They took over a vice presidency and the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Development. The president did not hide that his transfer was influenced by the need for the far-right party to support Feijóo's (failed) investiture. The trauma has not been healed. The PP has been very reluctant to talk about its links with Vox. Everything's fine”. “We have been in government for a month and things are working normally.” The reality is that those from Abascal have an important source of votes in Murcia. From 9.46% support in the regional elections in 2019 to 17.7% in 2023. The 23J was even higher: 21.8%, when the national average was 12.3%. They have lost votes compared to the previous generals, but much less than in other autonomies. And the Murcian PP does not seem to be clear about how to confront its strength.
Castile and León
The Board chaired by Alfonso Fernández Mañueco is patient zero. The first coalition government. A vice presidency and three councils. And proof that having responsibilities hurts Vox. “They don't know how to manage, they don't have experience, they don't know the Administration,” say Executive sources. The x-ray that is now repeated in other communities. Furthermore, they reveal, they have “very controlled” from Madrid. They do not give room for territorial organizations to develop and that is “not knowing” Spain. They have also “asked them not to make trouble with me,” in reference to the outbursts of Vice President Juan García-Gallardo. On June 23 they went from five deputies in Castilla y León to one. There they see them in the doldrums. According to demographic sources, its essence is “polarization” and when there is a “strong” leader on the right, as was seen with Feijóo in the investiture, they lose their reason for being.