Abascal gives Mazón a boost: PP-Vox pre-agreement on the DANA budget

ValenciaThe far right gives Carlos Mazón a lifeline, and in return, the PP embraces the criminalization of migration and the climate denialism of the extremists. In the midst of a political and judicial siege over the management of the DANA (National Action Plan for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women), the Valencian president announced this morning a preliminary agreement with Vox for the 2025 budget. "In the coming days, we hope to finalize a broad program of measures," he announced in an institutional statement without questions and in which he did not specify the initiatives. Alberto Núñez Feijóo endorsed the general lines of the pact, with which sources in Génova claim to be comfortable and reject the idea that it implies giving in to any blackmail from the far right. In parallel, the judge investigating the management of the DANA (National Action Plan for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women) has summoned former Interior Minister Salomé Pradas and former regional Secretary of Emergencies Emilio Argüeso to testify as suspects on April 11. He also calls the Spanish government delegate in the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabé, as a witness on the 14th of the same month.

What Vox has provided details on, however, is that this afternoon, Vox, in a statement, outlined the measures that the new accounts will have to include. Regarding immigration, they are demanding the elimination of all subsidies to NGOs that help migrants. They are also asking for the inclusion of a budget to carry out "reliable" age-diagnostic tests for these individuals. Furthermore, they demand that the Valencian Community not accept any more unaccompanied minors and a budget to promote a plan for the return of irregular migrants. With these requests, the extremists are seeking to have the Generalitat counteract the extraordinary regularization approved by the Spanish government.

Regarding climate denialism, Vox is demanding the elimination of all funds allocated to the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development and the fees derived from the European Green Deal. They also demand that the Generalitat assume any sanctions that the European Union or the State may impose on local councils that, without authorization, carry out actions to reduce vegetation in riverbeds and ravines.

In the linguistic field, the far-right party demands "significant" cuts to the budget of the Valencian Academy of Language and subsidies for the promotion of Catalan. Regarding historical memory policies, it intends to maintain only the "mandatory aid for the identification of corpses."

In fiscal matters, it calls for a two-point cut in the Property Transfer and Legal Acts Tax, currently at 10%, and a reduction of the reduced rate on the Property Transfer Tax from 10% to 4% for transfers of agricultural plots and for Gift and Suc Tax. It also aims to equate the Wealth Tax with that on large fortunes. Furthermore, the PP and VOX would undertake an ambitious reform of the Personal Income Tax throughout 2025.

Mazón: "Vox is up to the task"

With the preliminary budget agreement, Santiago Abascal's party, which has been negotiating the accounts with the PP for weeks, could guarantee the PP new accounts that would provide stability to Mazón, who is on the ropes for his handling of the catastrophe. As expected, Vox's support has come at a price, and the Valencian president—who already agreed with the far-right party on his investiture, the 2024 accounts, and a legislative pact- has had to embrace the more radical ideology of the far-right party. He made this clear this morning when he announced that the Generalitat (Catalan government) "will not accept any further distributions" of migrants and asked the Spanish government to report on the number of people arrested for looting and robbery of supermarkets and other establishments, as well as the nationality of those arrested. The request, in practice, links migration with citizen insecurity, a position Vox has championed since its inception. "We cannot allow people who have lost everything due to the flood to see the perpetrators of looting and pillaging their homes and businesses in the days following October 29th go unpunished," the head of the Consell (Consell) explained.

Regarding climate denialism and opposition to measures that mitigate the impact of human action on the environment, the head of the Consell has argued that "climate dogmatism and regulatory rigidity cannot be a hindrance to the construction [of water infrastructure] that is necessary." "We had warned that the sectarian policies of the left would have consequences for people," Mazón added.

Abascal: "Mazón is going in the right direction"

The Valencian president's words have satisfied the far-right party, which, led by the party's president, Santiago Abascal, applauded Mazón for going in what he called the "right direction: unabashedly confronting the [European] Green Pact and policies that encourage illegal immigration." "Both issues had to do with the causes of the DANA tragedy and the aggravated consequences of looting. I congratulate Mr. Mazón for his courage in publicly denouncing it," said Abascal, adding that he is confident that with "this course of action," the Valencian Community "will have the budget it needs for reconstruction."

In gratitude, Mazón heaped praise on Vox. He said the far-right party members had "lived up to the task" and praised their "sincere will" to contribute to reconstruction "despite the ideological differences" he claims exist with his party. "We have to thank them for the broad vision that we haven't found in other opposition parties," he added, accusing the Valencian left of "starting the hate mill" instead of seeking an agreement when the consequences of the DANA (National Anti-Dumping Act) made it "imperative." "We hope that this good agreement will be valued regardless of acronyms and political bias," he added.

Regarding future budget investments, Mazón announced that they will include the "review of emergency systems and protocols," as well as "the construction of water infrastructure." The Valencian president also once again established himself as the guarantor of the recovery of the Valencian Country against the Spanish government, which was the constant target of his barbs throughout the speech. "We must once again censure the attitude of Pedro Sánchez's government, which is more concerned with forgiving millions in debt to its separatist partners than presenting a state plan for this region," he said, and among other things, defended the fact that regional aid through the DANA (National Action Plan) should reach the population "five times faster" than that of the exe (Exe).

The preliminary agreement announced today could mean the approval of a Generalitat budget that has suffered several delays, including a postponement after the PP announced its presentation and parliamentary processing. In this scenario of uncertainty, last week the Council approved an extraordinary credit in the current budget for the 2025 fiscal year of 2.364 billion, intended to cover the immediate response and recovery measures adopted since October 29 to meet the expenses arising from the floods.

Baldoví: "Mazón is dragging his feet"

The preliminary agreement between the PP and Vox has been harshly criticized by opposition groups. For the spokesperson for Compromís, Joan Baldoví, Mazón "has shown that the only thing that matters to him is himself and continuing to be protected so that he doesn't end up getting the instruction from the judge in Catarroja." "He has groveled before the extreme right," he added. Regarding Vox's role in the agreement, it is exclusively because they want to benefit electorally from this situation [...] even if it means continuing to maintain, as they themselves have said, an incompetent person as president of the Generalitat."

The secretary general of the PSVP, Diana Morant, has expressed the same opinion, accusing Mazón of signing with "the most discriminatory and climate change denier" of those agreed to so far.