The tension between the two partners (PP and Vox) that share the Government in the Valencia City Council broke out abruptly yesterday. The relationship between both partners has never been cordial, with Vox tightening the rope again and again to establish its own profile and the mayor, María José Catalá, trying to temper the affronts so as not to see her majority in the Chamber in danger. However, that tension accumulated after weeks of provocations exploded yesterday.
The four councilors of the ultra formation left the plenary session of the Consistory after the mayor refused to give the floor to the Vox spokesperson, Juanma Badenas, in a questioning by the socialist spokesperson, Sandra Gómez, who wanted to know the position of the first councilor regarding the changes introduced by Vox regarding active employment policies for women.
Catalá preferred – with the regulation in hand that allows the Mayor’s Office to delegate interpellations to the councilor of his choice – that the local government spokesperson, Juan Carlos Caballero, be the one to answer. That provoked the anger of Vox, who left the plenary session. The four councilors returned only to vote against a motion after a recess of almost half an hour.
However, the fuse had already been lit hours before due to a conflict of powers between fellow Government members. Early in the morning, the Vox spokesperson and second deputy mayor of the Valencia City Council, Juanma Badenas, defended tooth and nail that the Employment powers are his and that it would be his party that directs employment and entrepreneurship policies. for all people. “Women and men are all people,” he argued to disdain specific policies for the part of the population that has the most difficulty finding work. “If the mayor doesn’t want to, let her make a new distribution of powers,” he challenged her.
Badenas took advantage of the spotlight of the plenary session to denounce a clash of competences after the PP took credit for “the centralization of the promotion of real equality and the employability of women” in the Department of Equality, chaired by the popular, Rocío Gil. “It’s as if tomorrow I would start directing the Fallas”; “it’s a toast to the sun”; “They don’t make any sense,” Badenas said yesterday, visibly upset. And, as this newspaper published, the mayor ordered her people to reserve 180,000 euros of the surplus to compensate, from the Rocío Gil area, for Vox’s cuts in active employment policies for women.
A line of action that, in statements before the plenary session, the local government spokesperson, Juan Carlos Caballero, defended against the criteria of his partner. The PP councilor indicated that equality policies are going to be treated transversally with specific projects and did not hesitate to point out that, in terms of employment, work will be done to give opportunities to everyone, but also to those groups with the worst vulnerability rates. such as young people, the long-term unemployed or women. Badenas had insisted: “That is getting into someone else’s powers.”
This tug of war over Vox’s ability to set the municipal agenda on such important issues was what ultimately led to its departure from the plenary session, already in the afternoon. The ultras understood that, in full view of everyone, Catalá had silenced his spokesperson, who wanted to defend his position on a matter of his concern. A position, by the way, contrary to that of the PP.
The relationship between the partners has never been simple since the beginning of the mandate. Although the popular have turned a blind eye to some issues, as happened with the controversial meeting in defense of life, in matters of equality, Catalá is not willing to give up one bit. And Vox also does not seem willing to give up fighting what they call gender ideology.
All in all, Vox increasingly feels more comfortable in confrontation with its own partners and they even seem willing to transfer this latent tension in the Valencia City Council (in Les Corts, agreement is sought more) to other institutions such as the Valencia Provincial Council.
The last plenary session of the provincial corporation also ended with anger and with the deputies – this time from the PSPV – leaving the Chamber after the Vox spokesperson accused them of being “a criminal party that persecuted nuns.” A story that they want to begin to spread with legislative proposals such as the Concordia one presented last Thursday in the regional Parliament.
