Vox has taken a giant step in its territorial expansion and ability to influence. The ultra-conservative formation has confirmed this Saturday, after the constitution of the town halls, its presence in more than 140 municipal governments. Those of Santiago Abascal have closed coalitions with the PP and other local formations in large cities and provincial capitals such as Gijón, Toledo, Valladolid, Burgos, Guadalajara, Ciudad Real or Castellón, and important cities in the Community of Madrid such as Alcalá de Henares or mostoles. Its policies will affect close to two million people throughout Spain, with gender and equality programs in the target.
Vox's growth in four years has been exponential. quantitatively and qualitatively. The party barely reached 500 councilors in all of Spain in 2019, with a presence in 35 governments (most of small municipalities) and only five alone. After the results of last May 28, the picture is completely different. The formation has 1,665 councilors distributed in almost a thousand towns and cities, with 26 absolute majorities and seats on the Governing Boards of 140 consistories. The euphoria in the dome is total and has inflated its sails for the next appointment with the polls.
Santiago Abascal himself boasted this Saturday, just a few hours before the government coalitions were confirmed. “In more than 140 municipalities throughout Spain, common sense will prevail: low taxes, strong services, safe streets and a close administration that makes life easier for people. That pride! Soon there will be many more,” he stressed on his Twitter profile..
In more than 140 municipalities throughout Spain, common sense will prevail: low taxes, strong services, safe streets and a close administration that makes life easier for people.
That pride!
Soon there will be many more. https://t.co/zI3m46DlqU
– Santiago Abascal 🇪🇸 (@Santi_ABASCAL) June 17, 2023
The party leadership, which had placed high hopes in the municipal elections, speaks of a paradigm shift and policies throughout the country. The line to follow in the 140 town halls will be the disappearance of the “ideological” departments of gender and equality and the reinforcement of security. “They have squandered millions of euros with policies that have not solved the real problems of the residents,” they point out from the formation, which will try to impose the toughest aspects of its argument on the PP, especially in the coming weeks, at the gates of the general elections. The promotion of the birth rate will be another of the keys of its government programs, always within the framework of local powers, with aid to families and pregnant women.
The third pillar of the PP and Vox city councils will be fiscal policy, an extreme in which the programs of both parties coincide widely. The way forward will be the reduction of municipal taxes and fees, as well as the circulation permits for vehicles over 25 years old.. The last aspect to be implemented is the end of the low emission zones that affect large cities, which will certainly open up a conflict within the different municipalities. This is a requirement included in the state law on Climate Change by order of the European Union and the PP has already applied it in Madrid.
The reality is that these messages have already caused a frontal clash with the national leadership of the PP, with the Generalitat Valenciana and the statements about the existence or not of gender violence as the first crisis. The line to be followed by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, as this newspaper has reported, will be to “set limits” to his partners regardless of the territory. An extreme that Santiago Abascal completely ignores. One month before 23-J, the alleged cultural war of Vox will be mixed with the first steps of the municipal governments and the regional negotiations.
The alliance with the PP has allowed them to enter the governments of large cities that just a year ago was unthinkable. This is the case of Gijón (267,706 inhabitants, according to the INE), where they have clamped down on the popular to form a coalition with Foro Asturias and seize power from the PSOE, which had been the force with the most votes, with an agreement sealed at the last minute.. Those of Abascal will assume the department of Festejos, a smaller booty than in other places.
Repeal of the left
The party announced over the last week the agreements in Valladolid (295,639), Toledo (85,085), Elche (235,580), Guadalajara (87,452) or Burgos (173,483), where the sum of the right has also made defeat possible of the socialists despite the fact that it was the first option for the voters. In other cases, such as Castellón (171,857) or Ciudad Real (74,850), the sum of popular and ultra-conservative groups has consolidated the victory of the PP, which could govern alone, but has chosen to build coalitions for the next four years.. Abascal's warning during the campaign, which he assured that he would not give away a single vote, has been fulfilled.
The interests of the ultra-conservative formation are translated into the subjects assumed. In Valladolid, considered one of the great triumphs, Vox will control Culture, Citizen Security and the vice mayor's office. In Burgos it will be Culture, Industry, Family and Citizen Security, while in Elche they will manage the areas of Families and the Elderly and the departments of Economic Promotion and Training, Districts and Territorial Vertebration. The controversy in the city of Alicante has erupted even before the legislature began, by announcing the end of the bike lanes. In Talavera de la Reina (83,247), Orihuela (80,784) they have announced the end of Equality. It will not be an exception and from the leadership they insist that it will be a “total repeal” of these policies of the left.
territorial expansion
Vox expanded its territorial network with nearly 2,000 lists for the 28-M, well above the 752 of the 2019 elections. Consequently, it has multiplied its presence in town halls throughout Spain, although there are also exceptions. The weight in the Basque Country, Galicia and the Canary Islands is practically nil and without representation. In Catalonia, although they have not entered any local government, the training has congratulated itself on its results. A total of 124 councilors, unthinkable four years ago, when they did not even reach 5. “Today begins a chapter of hope to forge the true alternative in Catalonia”, declared this Saturday Ignacio Garriga, leader of the formation in the region and general secretary at the national level.
The 26 absolute majorities in small town halls and the coalitions with the PP are distributed throughout the country, with greater weight in the Valencian Community, the two Castillas and the Community of Madrid. The last territory was the only puncture of Vox in the elections of 28-M, blurred in front of the absolute majorities of Isabel Díaz Ayuso and José Luis Martínez-Almeida. But the party has been able to rebuild itself at the municipal level and will enter the governments of the two most populous cities in the region behind the capital: Móstoles (208,761) and Alcalá de Henares (196,888)..
The PP could govern alone in the first case, having been the party with the most votes, but it has also chosen to give stability to the municipality with a right-wing coalition. In Alcalá, however, the PSOE had been the force with the most votes at the polls and the agreement was mandatory to unseat the left. Both squares have a symbolic value, given that they are two historical socialist strongholds. In Móstoles, Vox will assume the Department of Culture and Tourism Development, while in the city of Complutense it will do the same with Coordination of Strategic and European Projects; Family, Childhood and Youth; and Economic Development and Employment.
In the Community of Madrid, the negotiations have been especially prolific for the two parties on the right. Vox will enter Aranjuez with force (59,762), with the departments of Technological Development and Information Technology; Transparency; Childhood and Youth; Transport and Mobility; Health and Consumption; Family and Seniors; Agriculture; and Commerce and Hospitality. Also in Arganda del Rey (57,553), despite the fact that the PP could also govern alone.