The PP and Vox agree on the elimination of Catalan in Aragon

MadridNot even a week after the PP and Vox reached an agreement in Extremadura, the two formations are following the same path in Aragon and have also reached a pact to invest the popular Jorge Azcón. The popular party and the far-right party announced the understanding this afternoon in a joint appearance by Azcón and the Vox spokesperson in the Aragonese Cortes, Alejandro Nolasco. The staging is a carbon copy of what they followed in Extremadura to present a policy in line with the Extremaduran one, in which national priority in public policies has been the keystone. But in this case, the furious anti-Catalanism that has characterized the right in the region has reappeared, and this makes it understandable that there is an essential point that includes the defense of "freedom against indoctrination" with two star measures: "freeing Aragon from the imposition of Catalan" and initiating the "abolition of the Aragonese Institute of Catalan". That is, the PP and Vox have agreed to eliminate Catalan in Aragon.

The Catalanophobic obsession has reached the extreme that they have put down in black and white that "the government of Aragon will promote the reform of the law of Aragonese cultural heritage" to "adapt it to what is provided for in the Statute of Autonomy of Aragon" – the objective is to put an end to the scarce normative protection of Catalan –. These anti-Catalan initiatives require "advances" in the matter "before the end of 2026" and the "culmination" of the legal reform in 2027, according to the agreement. The same deadline is set for the liquidation of the Aragonese Institute of Catalan, which oversees the application of Catalan regulations to the dialectal variant of the Franja de Aragón, as well as promoting its social use and advising the region's public authorities. The PP had already imposed inventions like LAPAO so that Catalan would not be said a decade ago – which was reversed by the left.

National priority, key

As Nolasco explained, "national priority in access to public services" is once again a cornerstone of the agreement. Azcón, however, has assured that this principle "will be compatible with legality." "Someone who has legal residency in this country has the same rights as someone who has obtained nationality by descent or birth," stated the popular candidate. Vox has also obtained three ministries —one of which, yet to be determined, will have the rank of vice-presidency. Santiago Abascal's party will be in charge of the portfolios of deregulation, social welfare and family, environment and tourism, and livestock, agriculture, and food. This is one more ministry than in Extremadura, as the far-right obtained a higher percentage of votes in Aragón. "It is a coherent agreement," defended the popular candidate.

The announcement of the agreement coincided with the investiture of María Guardiola in Extremadura and with the clash between PP and Vox in Congress precisely over national priority. The good rapport that the far-right exhibits with the popular regional leaders contrasts with the criticism directed at Génova, whom Nolasco has accused —in front of Azcón, who listened with a smug smile without defending his party's national leadership— of "putting obstacles in the way." "Génova approves of certain things and then later considers them wrong," assured the Vox spokesperson in the Aragonese Cortes. Sources from the national PP have celebrated the agreement and reiterated the message that it reduces the scope of national priority and that it bothers Vox.

"National priority yes, but as it appears in the agreed and signed agreement: based on roots and in accordance with the Constitution, thus continuing that of Extremadura," they say in Génova. Nolasco, on the other hand, has avoided ruling out that nationality will be a factor taken into account in the scales for allocating public resources. "We will be able to say so in a few days. There are things that still need to be polished and we have technical reports to do," said the far-right spokesperson. In this regard, Azcón has insisted that the "political debate" on national priority "ends in practice when we have the legal debate" because the limit will be state law, which prohibits discrimination based on origin.

In any case, once the objective of Guardiola revalidating the regional presidency has been achieved —in a vote that took place just four hours after the pact in Aragon came to light—, the PP will achieve the same with the popular candidate in Aragon next week. All eyes will now turn to Castilla y León, where there is a pending pact between PP and Vox after the elections on March 15 and which will follow the same line as the previous two. Also in Andalusia, which has elections on May 17 and where the popular Juanma Moreno wants to avoid having to apply Vox's framework with an absolute majority.