There will be no war by the Generalitat Valenciana, the Valencia City Council, and the Valencian employers' associations against the Government for the expansion of the port, Carlos Mazón's main demand for this legislature. Óscar Puente, socialist Minister of Transport, confirmed yesterday that next Tuesday the Council of Ministers will approve the development of the northern terminal, despite Sumar's opposition. Yolanda Díaz, in line with what is demanded by her Compromís partners in Congress, opposes it.
Weeks ago, the PSOE had assumed the objective of giving the green light to the expansion, without the past demand, as Ximo Puig demanded at the time, for a new Environmental Impact Statement - the last EIA is from 2007 - that would justify its sustainability. The socialist group exemplified this on Tuesday in Congress by supporting a PP proposal, hours after the summit between Carlos Mazón and Isabel Díaz Ayuso in Madrid; event organized by the Conexus Foundation to defend, and pressure, Pedro Sánchez's executive in this objective.
That same day, Sumar, Compromís and Podemos raised the hatchet against the PSOE. Yolanda Díaz expressed her rejection. Compromís and Podemos charged against the socialists and reiterated yesterday that they will take the case to court, as was done in the past with the ZAL of the Port of València, paralyzed by the courts. The left of the PSOE wants to judicialize the project, a threat that could generate problems for an expansion that is seen, by this left, as an attack on the environmental sustainability of Valencia.
The expansion of the Port had become Carlos Mazón's main demand at the beginning of this legislature, aware that time was against the multinational shipping company MSC, which needed approval of the project before the end of the year. The Valencian president had placed this project ahead of regional financing, debt relief, investments or water to challenge the Government. His demand had found the support of the City Council and all the Valencian employers' associations; from the Valencian Business Confederation, CEV, to the Valencian Business Association, AVE, chaired by the shipping company Vicente Boluda.
In fact, the Valencian PP had prepared a broad argument yesterday in the event that, by surprise, the minister did not confirm what seemed to be news, in accordance with what was stated days before by the Government delegate, Pilar Bernabé. The support of Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who even stated that "Valencia was the port of Madrid" reinforced the demands of the Valencian president, who yesterday did not hide his "satisfaction" with the decision that the Government of Valencia will adopt in a few days. Yesterday there was a photo and toast between Mazón, Puente and the Valencian mayor, María José Catalá.
There will be no war between the Valencian PP and the Government over the Port, but we will have to see what movements the parties to the left of the PSOE make. Yesterday, Compromís leaders were betting on withdrawing their support for Pedro Sánchez if Sumar did not offer a clear gesture of opposition to the socialists for the Port. Podemos disqualified the Spanish executive and joined the judicialization of the case. Everything indicates that the opposition of these political forces will be channeled through the courts and that support for the Government will remain stable in Congress. In addition, the PSOE has the support of the PP.
From another perspective, Carlos Mazón yesterday added an important victory to his management. The expansion of the port was an important part of a political story that was supported yesterday by the Government. The conditions demanded by the PSPV are left behind, leaving Compromís as the only Valencian force opposing the project. Surely, the expansion of the port has been the last piece that remained to be broken from the complicity that the PSPV and Compromís, and also Unides Podem, had in the past when they governed the Valencian institutions with the Botànic project. We will have to be attentive to the consequences.
