Green was one of the first colors that illuminated the sky over the city of Valencia at the beginning of 2024 in a loud and colorful fireworks display - with four castles fired simultaneously - that served to welcome the new year. This tone was intended to serve to underline that the city will celebrate the European Green Capital in 2024, a designation that was achieved by the previous left-wing government team (of Compromís and PSPV), but that will be developed by the PP and Vox executive that emerged from the municipal elections of May.
And green will surely be one of the colors that will mark a key year to consolidate the changes in the capital intended by a local government where distrust between the partners - those in blue and those in green - remains.
The European Green Capital is a good example of these internal disagreements since the popular people see it as a lever to transform Valencia, while their Vox traveling companions are not particularly comfortable with terms such as sustainability or climate change. In fact, Vox - before signing its agreement with the PP - voted against recognizing the public interest of this capital to promote fiscal measures and support for the event.
Vox's green will greatly affect the work of the executive chaired by María José Catalá, who needs the support of those from Santiago Abascal to carry out her new city model. It was expected that after welcoming the four Vox councilors into the local government, the tension between both parties would be deactivated, but it seems that the conflict could break out at any moment.
As this newspaper explained, within the PP they do not trust the Vox spokesperson, Juanma Badenas, whom they consider to be obsessed "with generating content" and showing their differences with the Catalá mayor's more conciliatory way of doing things.
In this context, both parties are striving to implement changes in the city model. The most attractive and that at the moment are generating some controversy are those introduced in terms of mobility. Fulfilling the electoral promise that buses return to City Hall Square has not been easy. With citizens already accustomed to having a pedestrian center, the new bus lines have had to be diverted on more than one occasion, raising doubts about the convenience of the approved changes.
The truth is that PP and Vox have limited themselves to fulfilling their electoral promises - which received endorsement at the polls - and have begun to design a new city where the private vehicle once again has more prominence while some of the pedestrianization projects are have paralyzed. 2024 should serve to see how far these reversals progress, but it will not be the only great challenge for this government.
And the problems of the previous executive such as the touristification of the city and the difficulties in accessing housing are still far from being resolved. Rental prices continue to rise while traditional businesses close in the center and establishments for tourists grow.
A few weeks ago, Mayor María José Catalá explained that she “does politics, not magic”, to respond, precisely, to the first neighborhood protests that she has already had to endure due to insecurity problems in three neighborhoods of Valencia. And the PP and Vox have allocated 278.1 million euros to security, 25% of the total of the new budget, with the intention of reaching a Local Police staff of 2,007 agents (100 more positions).
