Vox believes it has achieved a great victory by forcing its entry into the local team of the Valencia City Council, obtaining the management of some minor powers, because the PP will continue to hold the main areas such as Urban Planning, Finance, Mobility, Local Police or Fallas. But the political history of the city shows that a smaller force can end up being swallowed up by the larger one, as happened in the late 90s with Unión Valenciana, UV.
You cannot even compare the prominence of Juan Manuel Badenas, local spokesperson for Vox, with that of Vicente González Lizondo, founder and president of UV. In 1991, the regionalists obtained 7 councilors compared to the PP's 8, and now the difference is even more important in favor of the popular ones: 13 compared to 4. With another important fact: in 1991 Rita Barberá did not have the notoriety and authority that Today María José Catalá has in the local PP; Another thing is that over time Barberá ended up becoming a key piece of the Valencian and also national PP.
Juan Manuel Badenas knows the city and its history, and it is likely that he knew that the entry of Vox under certain conditions could go against his formation, and himself. Es Diario correctly explained this week how Montse Lluís, Santiago Abascal's right-hand man, landed this week in Valencia to restore order, perhaps to force Badenas to enter the local government. Vox is a very hierarchical party, almost of military discipline, where almost everything is decided in Madrid.
Nobody doubts that the ultra party has an enormous capacity for public staging; Badenas already demonstrated it with his gesture of covering the accent of "València" with a Spanish flag. It is likely that they will apply the same staging in their areas, some of which are sensitive such as Family and Childhood, park management or in "traditions." But no matter how hard they try, the PP will have control of the City Council's political action, and the role of the ultra party will be marginal. His entry into the Local Government Board may have become the best way to accelerate the disappearance of the party in a city, Valencia, where the PP was hegemonic for 24 years.
It remains to be known what the future of Juan Manuel Badenas will be. Will he last long in local government? His relationship with Catalá is and will continue to be bad. Just look at how yesterday they didn't get together for the agreement photo. And from the proximity of the government table, tensions can increase, since the Vox leader's poor opinion of the mayor is no secret. Not only in budgets, but in issues such as Valencia C.F. or in areas related to gender violence or the protection of natural spaces.
Santiago Abascal said on Thursday that he felt very satisfied with the Valencia pact. At the national level, it is very good for Vox to present that he has managed to enter the government of Spain's third city. But it seems reasonable to assess that, perhaps, what Vox has done is take the definitive step to enter marginality in the city of Valencia. Which, in addition, could facilitate the PP to achieve total hegemony on the Valencian right. Time will confirm it.
