Camps doubles down on Mazón and Feijóo and threatens to fracture the PP

ValenciaA traditional firecracker shot, playing the song at full volume And will survive Gloria Gaynor's message—the message of the lyrics is unequivocal—and the warmth of hundreds of PP supporters and former leaders still smarting from having been sidelined when they were investigated and, in some cases, convicted of corruption. These are the levers that former president of the Valencian Generalitat (Generalitat Valenciana), Francisco Camps, used this Saturday to redouble his fight with the current PP leadership to regain a position in the party. If possible, the regional presidency of the party.

Although it may generate disbelief in many readers, Camps maintains many supporters. Among them, the former presidents of the Valencia and Castellón provincial councils, Alfonso Rus and Carlos Fabra. The former head of government has forged an alliance with the former mayor of Alicante, Sonia Castedo, which compensates for the absence of provincial leaders from Alicante, a territory that politically belongs to the former head of the Council, Eduardo Zaplana, and, therefore, to Mazón. Castedo, like Fabra and Rus, was tainted by corruption cases, although she was ultimately acquitted.

Curiously, what was most difficult to understand was when he took the microphone. Forced to measure his words carefully, he used extremely cryptic language. "As this act means what it means, we will do what we have to do," he blurted out. Aware of the unintelligible nature of his vocabulary, he joked: "I speak the way our Galician presidents speak." However, fearful of overstepping his bounds, he circumscribed his aspirations: "Let no one be confused, we are talking about the PP," and added: "I have already been president."

Aware of Carlos Mazón's weakness, Camps went directly to Génova Street. "My only goal is for [Alberto Núñez Feijóo] to be the future president of Spain," he clarified, so as not to anger the Galician politician and to take advantage of the fact that, within the state leadership, the current head of the Consell is considered a liability. With this same aim, he argued that if Feijóo wants to reach the Moncloa, he will need the PP to "also win" in the Valencian Community, a reasoning from which one could deduce that he believes he will not be able to do so with Mazón.

Further evidence of the linguistic balancing act deployed by the former Valencian president is that he has not mentioned Mazón at any point. However, he has leveled transparent criticism at him, naming everything the head of the Council has not done since the catastrophe. For example, taking to the streets. Since October 29, Mazón has not attended a single mass event.

Camps' comeback strategy is somewhat reminiscent of that of Spanish President Pedro Sánchez after being ousted by the PSOE's old guard. Furthermore, the Valencian leader also has a large group of loyalists. This was demonstrated by the two buses that arrived from Torrevieja, after traveling 200 kilometers. Supporters from Vega Baja have joined forces with other, closer towns. This is the case in Palmira, a neighbor of Paiporta and affected by the DANA (Basin-style flood), which lost a bakery that had been in operation for three generations and will not reopen. "Camps personally invited me, and out of courtesy, I came," he clarifies.

Before leaving, a prominent former PP mayor tells us that he hopes today's message reaches Génova Street. Forget the difficulty of the request, given that although Camps was not convicted, the party was convicted while he was leading it, and several former members of his executive were convicted. Others, such as former president of the Corts (Spanish Parliament), Juan Cotino, and former mayor of Valencia, Rita Barberá, died before the sentence was handed down.