From "language at all costs" to eliminating the teaching of Moroccan culture: the PP-Vox budget pacts

Barcelona / PalmaThe puzzle of the regional budgets in Spain with the pacts between the PP and Vox has followed the same pattern: against the European Green Deal and the migration and distribution policies for foreign minors, and in the Catalan-speaking territories, against Catalan. Despite The messing up of the regional executives by Santiago Abascal's party in June of last year, both parties have already reached a triple regional understanding. In mid-March it was the Valencian Community, chaired by Carlos Mazón; The Balearic Islands followed, on May 30, and Murcia, last Thursday. These regional pacts contrast with the cut-off communications at the state level, according to various sources. But how has the Balearic and Murcian push gone? What were the intrigues of the negotiations like?

The Valencian president felt more urgent, and in fact, Vox boasts that the speech was so clearly adopted. ARA published a reconstruction of the negotiations in which The far right warned him that if he didn't back down they would demand his "head"In the other two territories, the Popular Party is close to an absolute majority: in Murcia, Vox struggled to enter the government before breaking away, while in the Balearic Islands it never did – they signed a governability pact after agreeing on several points.

Language, key in the Balearic Islands

"The language must be present at all costs." This was a condition set by the state leadership of Vox to the president of the Balearic government, Marga Prohens. Direct dialogue between her and the far-right party's general secretary, Ignacio Garriga, was fluid, according to sources familiar with the negotiations, but what was "most difficult" were the concessions on the language. Prohens had to swallow further setbacks regarding Catalan because it was essential for Vox. In the negotiations, Garriga's direct role has been key, but so has that of her representative, Montserrat Lluis. from the power core, deputy secretary of government action and in charge of regional negotiations. In telephone conversations with Garriga, Prohens speaks in Spanish, according to sources familiar with Vox, unlike in Parliament, where she always uses Catalan.

One of Prohens's obsessions is avoiding social confrontation over linguistic issues. The implementation of trilingualism in schools by her predecessor, José Ramón Bauzá, lost the PP's absolute majority in 2015, and it took the party eight years to regain power. But while she promises not to return to the Bauzá era, the government is ceding ground to Vox in the linguistic field in exchange for its support. During the negotiations, Prohens flatly refused to modify the language normalization law and the decree on minimum Catalan standards in education, as Vox demanded. But, finally, she has agreed to include Spanish as a teaching language in the education law. "We have not transgressed our red lines regarding language," the president defended. The Balearic government has argued that schools will continue to decide the preferred language. But Vox—in the words of its parliamentary spokesperson, Manuela Cañadas—celebrated having taken another step toward "erasing" these lines "little by little."

To address issues of the pact, "especially regarding language," Lluís led the last meeting in Mallorca a week ago with Balearic representatives from Vox and the PP. The meeting "lasted hours" to finalize technical aspects regarding the elimination of the language requirement, also in some areas of the administration. In recent months, both parties have moved closer together, after distancing themselves from the PP at the end of last November. voted by mistake in favor of Vox's amendments to eliminate Catalan from all public services and as a vehicular language in classroomsThe Popular Party had to ally with the Left to reverse it. Prohens She proclaimed that she was willing to settle accounts with the left, but failed to begin formal negotiations on the matter. The PP has always been aware that Vox was its only possible partner. They were willing to extend their term for the remainder of the year. "It's Vox who wants to show they can get things done," noted a source from the president's team.

Prohens made a statement to explain the agreement similar to Mazón's. In Murcia, prayers continued until last Thursday, after negotiations "intensified" in the last week. A "key element" of the regional pact chaired by Fernando López Miras was the discontinuation of the Arabic language and Moroccan culture program in classrooms, as Vox had requested. The PP ended up publicly expressing its gratitude for the "search for consensus."

A month before the PP's state congress, three regional pacts have already been finalized. And the rest of the regions? For the moment, Aragón has not initiated negotiations over the accounts and has shown no urgency, despite its "willingness" to reach an agreement. This contrasts with the "very remote" scenario in Castilla y León, according to Vox, and even more so in Extremadura, where they would not even give President María Guardiola any attention, as they recall her speech against their party. In these two regions, there are two former Vox councilors who remained in the government, breaking with the party when they were ordered to leave. The PP also assumes that Extremadura wants to distance itself from Vox.

State clash, without Feijóo-Abascal calls

Relations between the leadership of the PP and Vox, and their leaders, Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Santiago Abascal, are "nonexistent," according to sources from both parties, who are vying for electoral growth. That was a long time ago: the PP recalls that it had already broken down last year and that the departure of the regional governments was a severe blow. Vox explains that they "froze" when they saw an "aggressive campaign" by the PP to "destroy" Vox, taking advantage of the some local and regional dissensionsFeijóo and Abascal don't meet or call each other; they only exchange a few words if they happen to be in Congress. Thus, budget negotiations have been solely between the regional governments and the state leadership of Vox, without intermediaries. However, Abascal's party has noted that "when things have stalled, it's been because of Génova's intervention."