PP and Vox will govern together in Extremadura

MadridHabemus pact for a new government in Extremadura. After weeks of negotiation, PP and Vox have reached an agreement to invest María Guardiola as president of the Extremaduran Junta, as announced by Guardiola herself this Thursday afternoon, in a press conference from Mérida. "It is a much-anticipated agreement and we are satisfied," said Guardiola. The PP candidate boasted of having been able to leave "ideological differences" behind. "We have achieved a broad majority that will sustain a very good government for Extremadura," she reiterated.

The pact, however, also means the entry of the far-right into the regional government. Santiago Abascal's party will have a vice-presidency and two ministries: a new ministry of Families, Deregulation and Social Services, and the ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Environment, as explained by Vox's Extremaduran candidate, Óscar Fernández, in a press conference. In fact, Fernández himself will assume the vice-presidency and one of the two ministries. "It is a satisfactory agreement," said Fernández.

The negotiation between the two parties had already been underway in recent days, and both Alberto Núñez Feijóo's party and Santiago Abascal's party were "optimistic" about reaching an agreement soon. Finally, it has come to light this Thursday. The investiture debate and swearing-in ceremony are scheduled to take place next week.

"61 points and 74 measures"

Beyond the agreement to govern together –they also governed in 2023, when they formed a regional coalition government, although it ended up breaking in the summer of 2024 and the PP governed alone until the call for elections in December 2025–, Guardiola has explained that the pact with the far-right includes "61 points and 74 different measures" and that they will be detailed later, although she has already anticipated that they "cover" all areas: housing, taxation, health, and education, among others. "They are very meticulous measures, and that is why the agreement has taken time to reach," said Guardiola. The Vox candidate said that if it has taken "longer than usual" it is because it is an agreement "for four years." This, as the future president has indicated, will translate into "four budgets" –it should be remembered that Guardiola called elections because she could not pass the regional public accounts for this 2026.

But the fact is that reaching this point has involved a tug-of-war between the two parties. In fact, at the beginning of March, Vox said "no" to María Guardiola in what was the first attempt to invest her to preside over the Extremaduran Regional Government. At that time, Santiago Abascal's party demanded "certainties and guarantees" from the Popular Party.

All in all, the pact comes four months after the regional elections were held in Extremadura and opens the way to unblocking the situation in Aragon and Castilla y León, where PP and Vox are also negotiating after the call for elections. In fact, in the case of Aragon, the calendar is tighter because Jorge Azcón (PP) must be invested before May 3.