The first vice president of the Valencian Government, Vicente Barrera (Vox), called the media this Tuesday to show his disagreement with the 'Community Pride' campaign launched by the Carlos Mazón Consell. It is the second time that Barrera summons journalists so far this term of office to make a political statement - the previous one was to attack the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun - and on this occasion he has done so with the aim of making it clear that Vox representatives in the regional executive "have not been counted on" to launch this campaign. A staging that he has done accompanied by the Minister of Justice, Elisa Núñez, to give more solemnity to the declaration.
"We are not joining in. In the Valencian Community there is no problem of discrimination, inclusion and respect," said Barrera. The vice president and Minister of Culture did not want to clarify whether he has expressed this opposition to the campaign to the president of the Generalitat, claiming that he has only seen it in the Plenary Session of the Consell and the deliberations of the plenary session of the Valencian government "are secret."
Although Barrera was at the Vox national leadership meeting in Madrid on Monday, he has denied that he had been given any instructions to take a stand against Mazón. In fact, he has defended that his words "do not represent any crisis" and that the Valencian government agrees almost 100% of the issues and they have "a common project."
He has framed his words as a mere "declaration of intent" to "mark the ideological line" of the party. In this sense, he recalled that PP and Vox "are partners, but not the same party."
Last Saturday, the president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, and the second vice president and councilor of Social Services, Equality and Housing, Susana Camarero, presented the new brand 'Orgull de Comunitat' in Benidorm as part of an initiative that seeks to “make visible and celebrate diversity and promote an inclusive and respectful society in the Valencian Community.” An initiative in which, Barrera has insisted, the Vox councilors do not plan to participate.
However, the top leader of the Voxist formation in the executive has admitted that his refusal to participate in a campaign will not affect it since none of the actions depended on the Vox departments. Barrera has recognized the "autonomy" of the second vice presidency and the Ministry of Equality directed by Susana Camarero to launch this type of campaigns.
In another order and asked about the Benidorm Fest, which he did not attend despite his status as Minister of Culture, Barrera indicated that he does not assess "the suitability or not of an artistic creation that we always respect." Of course, he has dropped that some "feminist associations have harshly criticized the song for being sexist."
Barrera has not clarified whether he is going to congratulate the Valencian group Nebulossa for their victory in Benidorm but he has said that "of course, once this song has been chosen", what he "wants" is for "Spain to always win". "It's not a matter of congratulating, it's a matter of I wish them all the luck in the world and I hope I can congratulate them for winning Eurovision," she added.
He has also responded to the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, who pointed out that "the fachosphere would have liked to have 'Cara al sol'" as Spanish representation in Eurovision. "What seems anachronistic and horrible to me is that the President of the Government sings 'La Internacional' with his fist raised every time he has the opportunity," replied the Vox representative in the Valencian executive.
