Feijóo is pushing to finalize agreements with Vox now and return Spain "to the First World"
The PP president asserts that citizens are doing the work "for change" and that the parties "cannot fail"
MadridThe People's Party (PP) called early elections in Extremadura and Aragon to highlight the Socialist Party's (PSOE) electoral decline and get rid of Vox. They achieved the first objective, but not the second: both María Guardiola and Jorge Azcón are now forced to reach an understanding with the far right to maintain power. And this will not be easy, especially in Extremadura, where Guardiola has been characterized by her back-and-forth with Santiago Abascal's party: from saying she prefers a PSOE abstention to embracing Vox's "feminism." After the national leadership disavowed the baroness Extremadura and urged him to make "less noise and more serious work," this Tuesday the party leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, called for a swift resolution to finalize agreements with Vox in the autonomous communities and return Spain "to the First World": "I will work so that what comes next is a source of pride, not disdain." He added: "People are doing their part for change, but we cannot allow the parties to fail." "We must organize the majority that has emerged from the ballot box, not fragment it."
Feijóo said this at a breakfast at the Nueva Economía Fórum in Madrid to present the candidate for Castile and León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, whose regional elections are on March 15. The PP leader described a Spain in decline, with a government steeped in "corruption"—"Sanchismo is being prosecuted for a dozen crimes," he said—and with a democratic quality similar to Rwanda or Botswana. Taking advantage of the fact that this week marks the anniversary of the 1978 Constitution becoming the longest-lasting in history—this Tuesday there is a joint event of the Congress and the Senate—Feijóo wanted to celebrate it, but criticizing Pedro Sánchez's alliances: "Now it turns out that Felipe González [he said, "there's no room in the [constitution] for the freedom of terrorists [referring to the prison benefits granted to former ETA members]."
Mañueco defends the party's identity
Although María Guardiola yesterday echoed Vox's arguments, the PP's candidate for Castile and León, Alfonso Martínez Mañueco, sought to defend the distinct identity of the People's Party (PP). In fact, Mañueco had already sent a message to Vox during the pre-campaign: "We set the conditions." And this Tuesday he reaffirmed this: "The best thing is a single-party government. That's when Castile and León has fared best," he said, although he also acknowledged that if dialogue with Vox is necessary, he will engage in it. But he warned: "We will demand that they serve the full four-year term. We believe it is essential to guarantee stability." "Is Vox reliable? After two years in government, when the numbers were bad or it suited them, they used an excuse and left," he recalled, referring to the far-right's collapse in all the regional governments. Mañueco speaks from experience, since he was the first. baron Popular to have to reach an agreement with Abascal's party, although it is characterized by a more moderate profile.
The current president of Castile and León has argued that although they may be able to reach an understanding with Vox, they are different parties. He said that being a member of the PP means defending the Constitution against those who attack it, referring to the separatists, but he also said that they advocate for the system of autonomous communities against those who also attack it, alluding to Vox. "In the PP we defend the autonomous communities because it is the model of governance closest to the people," he said, and defended his administration: "This also wins votes." However, he refrained from giving advice to Guardiola or Azcón when it comes to negotiating with Vox.
Rejection of funding and "zero taxes"
Furthermore, he also addressed the financing model presented by the Spanish government, which he categorically rejected. He criticized Spanish President Pedro Sánchez for having negotiated it with the leader of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, and rebuked him for the fact that it should be agreed upon within the Fiscal and Financial Policy Council. "I have instructed my advisor not to hold any bilateral meetings with the Treasury until this financing model is withdrawn," he declared, and reminded everyone that the system serves to finance public services and people's daily lives. He then announced a tax cut, which also affects the community's public coffers. Mañueco has boasted about having eliminated inheritance and gift taxes between parents and children and between spouses, and has said that these taxes will be progressively eliminated between cousins and others. He also announced a reduction in income tax and property transfer tax to "zero" in rural areas for home purchases, as part of a broader effort to combat depopulation in Castile and León, which he acknowledged as one of the region's main challenges.
