"National priority": the PP and Vox path to limit immigrants' rights

BarcelonaVox left all the PP's autonomous governments in the summer of 2024 in protest because the popular party accepted the reception of 400 minors from Ceuta and the Canary Islands. It is not surprising that, two years later, the immigration folder has been key to resuming the coalition with the PP, for now, in the Extremadura executive. The PP has agreed with the far-right to limit the rights of immigrants, starting by committing to reject the arrival of irregulars by all means, "legal, juridical and political", whether they are minors or adults. In addition to not offering new reception places, it will try to empty the current ones "by actively working to return unaccompanied minors to their countries of origin". A clear statement of intent, even though Extremadura does not have the powers to expel people from its territory.

But the agreement signed this Thursday by the two far-right parties in Mèrida is not limited to discussing irregular immigration. The new government of Extremadura will be inspired by the principle of "national priority" to grant "all public aid, subsidies and benefits", also to migrants with papers. What does this mean? Although they do not go into detail, PP and Vox emphasize that they will establish "a reinforced minimum period of roots, registration and connection with the territory" and that, furthermore, they will link access to aid with "the contribution, permanence and contribution to the system" of immigrants. More specificity is added in the chapter on social housing, where the two parties have agreed that this principle of "national priority" will make 10 years of registration mandatory for purchase and five years for rent.

People in an irregular situation "are excluded from structural social benefits and services, limiting their access exclusively to cases of vital urgency", explains another of the points of the agreement, although this is not so far from the current reality, because an undocumented person cannot access most public aid.

PP and Vox, therefore, want to prevent irregular immigrants from arriving and limit the rights of those who are already here, whether they have papers or not. They exclude them from administration aid, but they will also try to prevent entities from taking care of them with public money by promoting the "total suppression of subsidies to NGOs that favor illegal immigration". How will it be determined who favors illegal immigration? The criterion will be set by the Junta de Extremadura, excluding from subsidies those entities "that participate directly or indirectly in the promotion, facilitation or support of illegal immigration or that act as necessary cooperators of human trafficking mafias". A wording in which those who simply help those in need could end up included. And if there are no subsidies for entities that operate from Extremadura, the PP and Vox government also does not want those that operate abroad to be financed: "Subsidies for international development cooperation will be reduced to the legal minimum".

July 18, 1936. Up Spain! Greetings to Franco". A Francoist monument as a cultural asset

Beyond immigration, tax reduction (even though Extremadura is one of the communities that receives the most resources from the regional financing model), the fight against housing occupations, the defense of "family," and nostalgia also characterize the governability agreement reached in Extremadura. Vox had been very belligerent, defending, for example, that the Francoist monument of the Cruz de los Caídos in Cáceres be declared an asset of cultural interest. The far-right has had its way, and the PP has agreed to protect "Extremadura's historical heritage persecuted by the left-wing ideological laws." The Cross was inaugurated in 1938 by the leader of the Sección Femenina, Pilar Primo de Rivera, with the inscription "July 18, 1936. Long live Spain! Salute to Franco." In contrast, the agreement makes no reference to violence against women, which generated so much controversy two years ago due to Guardiola's refusal to accept Vox's proposals.