The silence of the first vice president of the Valencian Government, Vicente Barrera, since his appointment as number two in Carlos Mazón's Executive surprised many. Barely any comments on social networks following the guidelines of his party, but no press conferences or appearances (in fact, he does not even have, today, a press officer). For this reason, there was great expectation in hearing his first words in the parliamentary headquarters, where yesterday, he outlined - he had 17 of the 55 minutes left over to which he was entitled in the first presentation - his road map for this legislature .
The Vox leader demonstrated his commitment - and that of his party - to launch into the cultural battle with the left. Santiago Abascal's party is beginning to realize that, at the national level, his prominence will decline and that he needs to assert his presence in all regional executives to show himself as a useful instrument for the most conservative voters.
Proof of this was the presence of the general secretary of the party, Ignacio Garriga, who yesterday went to Valencia - Abascal has also done so at key moments such as the constitution of Les Corts - to take advantage of the configuration of a PP-Vox Government in the Generalitat: "A model and exemplary for the entire country" and that shows that it is possible "to change things without confronting the Spanish." Garriga assured that the new Consell has ended "the linguistic imposition" and has begun "to change the course" of left-wing policies "and separatism."
Yesterday's landing of Vox in Les Corts surprised even their own, because although they only have three more regional deputies than the previous legislature, the fact of reaching the institutions and being able to count on public positions and teams of advisors staged, in a very evident way , who has (although shared with the PP) power now in the Valencian Community.
In the Hemicycle, Barrera continued Garriga's idea and stated his objective of combating "cultural pan-Catalanism" that "conspires" to "steal our Valencian identity and separate us from the rest of Spain." All of this, combined with a clear commitment to reverse the cultural model promoted by the previous progressive executive.
From the Les Corts tribune, Barrera attacked the Botànic Government made up of PSPV, Compromís and Unides Podem, whom he accused of practicing "cultural censorship" and "the persecution of dissidents." As he already did during the transfer of portfolios in the month of July, he was used - as a bullfighting professional - as an example of this neglect and forgetfulness on the part of the authorities. Faced with this, he defended that his ministry will support freedom, respect for the Law and the rational use of public funds.
A few words with little content but that do glimpse his commitment to reversing the cultural policies of the Botànic. In parliament - where he did not hesitate to confront the opposition that was disfigured by the use of the term País Valencià - he pointed out that the linguistic criteria "will not be in the scales" and that one language will not be promoted over another.
His commitment to make a radical change in the aid and subsidies granted by his department was also clear. Barrera committed, amid the applause of his people (also from the PP) to not "finance" "pan-Catalan" entities. "In this sense, and I want to be understood, not even a sliver of space will be given to ideas that go against our Constitution. The pan-Catalan, colonialist and annexationist movement with the money of Valencians is over," he stated. he.
On the other hand, it opened the door of the Ministry of Culture and Sports to centuries-old entities that reject the unity of Valencian and Catalan and use regulations different from the official one of the Valencian Language Academy.
Along these lines, the signing of an activist against Catalan nationalism as regional Secretary of Culture, already gave a good account of Vox's intentions to make culture a weapon of political battle.
In these first stages of the legislature, the linguistic issue fueled by Vox has marked a large part of the Valencian agenda, despite the attempts of the president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, to surround and control the fire. And it does not seem that Barrera is going to act, precisely, as a fire extinguisher.
