The Valencia City Council has withdrawn an EMT campaign after protest and pressure from Vox for being written in official Valencian. On February 15, Vox spokesperson and second deputy mayor of Valencia, Juanma Badenas, showed on the social network In the same letter, he pointed out that his councilors would ask the Government Board for the campaign to be withdrawn: “We demand that what was agreed regarding the use of Spanish and Valencian of the RACV be fulfilled,” argued the Voxist leader.
The next day (February 16), a cloak of silence was imposed and the local government spokesperson, Juan Carlos Caballero (PP), did not want to give details about whether the request of his government partners had been debated. No one confirmed it officially, but some sources pointed out that an agreement had been reached to remove the mupis and supports with these posters, although it was preferred not to make it explicit so as not to create tension.
This Thursday, the PSPV has revealed the content of this agreement through a response to the question asked by the socialist councilor María Pérez, during the requests and questions section of the session of the Heritage, HR and Technical and Citizen Security Commission on February 20. Pérez asked until what date the EMT campaign ‘Ens moven amb tu para que gaudisques de la ciutat’ was planned and if it would be withdrawn early at the request of the municipal group Vox.
In the response, it was noted that the aforementioned campaign was changed for a new campaign on February 19, 2024, just three days after Vox’s request (with a weekend included). However, in the reply, the City Council points out that in order to “be able to place the new Fallas 2024 municipal campaign it was necessary to replace the previous campaigns placed on our supports.” And they assured that the motto ‘We move with you’ “will continue to be used during the year 2024 with different images and creatives.”
An argument that does not convince the PSPV, which regrets that the mayor, María José Catalá, bows to the “imposition” of Vox. “They removed it covertly and with the argument that they changed it to join the general campaign of the City Council,” explained the socialist spokesperson, Sandra Gómez, who has called this explanation a “mockery” because it was “evident that the campaign of the “EMT was specific for the holidays and was on the streets for just a few days.”
“No one launches an advertising campaign, with the expense that this entails, so that it remains exposed for a few days,” he reiterated. Gómez pointed out that “next to the motto you could see a ninot getting on a bus, so evidently she was prepared to stay in the mupis all Fallas,” she remarked.
