Vox has turned Valencia, city and capital, into its best speaker to clearly propagate its denialist and involutionist drive. In no other major capital of Spain has Santiago Abascal's party managed to establish his discourse with such force thanks to the result of 28-M to even bother his PP partner and the mayor María José Català to the point of exhaustion. The list of topics in which Vox has highlighted its ultra imprint with high-temperature interventions is long, from the harassment of the poor in the river bed, the unapologetic criticism of the science of climate change, the declared war on cultural Valencianism ( which they describe as "expansionist Catalanism"), the demonization of immigration as the cause of all crimes and the vilification of the LGTBI collective: "Better a punk than a beach faggot", a phrase to frame by local spokesperson Juan Manuel Bádenas.
Nothing to do with what happens in the Generalitat Valenciana, where the insurrectional vocation of the Vox councilors to set a profile is much more moderate. The profile of the protagonists of this party in the Consell plays in Carlos Mazón's favor, with little desire for conflict; and some were popular militants in the past. They tend to act, when they do, motivated more by Abascal's orders than by their own will, which makes it easier to temper the attacks of people who, like the vice president and Minister of Culture, Vicente Barrera, avoid, as much as possible, the media. communication. Nothing to do with Juan Manuel Bádenas, who has a vocation as a leading actor and about whom we have already talked a lot in this newspaper, or his partner and also councilor Pepe Gosálvez, also endowed with the ability to achieve notoriety at the most inopportune moments, for his mayor. clear.
If it weren't for them, María José Català's legislature would be advancing with many fewer surprises. But Vox and Badenas know the history of a city with a permanent tendency to punish the segmentation of the right and reward the majority forces. It happened to Unión Valenciana between 1991 and 1995, which ended up diluted in the ranks of the group led by Rita Barberá; previous step for the PP to become a hegemonic force in the capital for 24 years. Badenas, who knows how to successfully enter the scene, and also has personal grievances rooted in the past with the mayor, is determined to question his partners and defend his positions making as much noise as possible. Because, furthermore, it works for him. And compared to those who thought he was alone in his attacks, they have discovered that he has a good ally in Pepe Gosalvez, another politician skilled at driving the wedge in at the most delicate moments: this week, at the inauguration of a world congress of wetlands in Valencia denied climate change.
Vox has found in Valencia the best place to oppose the PP thanks, mainly, to its protagonists. The mayor knows it, and she is learning how every week she is forced to either rectify, soften or cover for her ultra councilors. The dynamic will extend throughout the legislature. There are even those who observe Juanma Badenas' attitude as the preparatory process for a possible departure from the local government, which would generate a strong crisis for the PP to maintain the stability of its executive in Valencia. At the moment, the succession of events is going in that direction, and María José Català's team has internalized that it must be prepared for many scenarios, even the worst ones. For now, the ultra formation has managed to make Valencia news, to its benefit.
