The PP will vote in Congress on the "national priority" agreed with Vox

MadridThe PP has presented an amendment to a Vox motion for the Congress to debate for the first time the establishment of a "national priority" when receiving aid and subsidies. An element that both parties agreed on in the pact signed to govern in Extremadura and that the Government has already set out to censor. The Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, stated in the Senate's control session that the pact between the right and the far-right is "discriminatory, inhumane, and xenophobic". What exactly does the motion to be debated this Wednesday in the lower house entail?

Specifically, they urge the Government to "promote access to all public aid, subsidies, and benefits by adhering to the principle of national priority", so that resources are allocated "prioritarily" to those who "maintain a real, lasting, and verifiable connection" in the state territory. This must include, according to the PP, a "minimum period of residency", registration in the population register, or a minimum contribution period to receive aid. They also want to exclude from any structural aid individuals in an irregular situation, except in cases of "vital emergency".

In the same vein, the motion also calls for the public housing access system to be based on the same criteria. They make a proposal regarding the "minimum" time they believe must pass to gain access: for affordable rent, a minimum of five years; and to purchase, a minimum of ten years. Furthermore, they consider that the existence of first-degree relatives in the specific territory should also be taken into account, as well as being young people under 36 years of age, a large family, or having dependents. They also add the exclusion from the public system of those convicted of squatting in the last five years. If the text were approved, it would not have practical effects in any case, as it is a motion that only urges the Government, and then it would be the executive who would have to take measures, despite the fact that most resolutions of this type end up as a dead letter. They are, however, symbolic if the Government loses them, as it implies that it is going in the opposite direction to what is indicated in Congress. The vote of Junts will be key in this regard, as they also advocate for more restrictive policies in migratory terms, but have so far always voted against Vox's initiatives.

The discrepancy between PP and Vox

At all times, the PP's proposal speaks of adapting this policy to "current legality", as the PP and Vox have interpreted differently what they themselves agreed upon. While the popular party assures that "national priority" must be applied respecting the current law and speaks of "roots" as a requirement, not nationality, Vox refers to it generically, which opens the door to discrimination based on origin. For this reason, in fact, the popular party has presented an amendment to Vox's original motion, in which it defended the need to establish different rights between nationals and foreigners, so that they ask to reform the normative framework so that it is so regarding aid: "This is not about arbitrariness or capricious exclusion, but about affirming a criterion of retributive justice linked to the government's duty to assist first those who sustain them and form their own national community," says the far-right. In short, PP and Vox disagree on the scope of the concept of "national priority": while the popular party defends that it presents no problem for foreigners who legally reside in Spain, the far-right makes a distinction with those who have or do not have Spanish nationality.

It is not the only issue on which they have diverged on the interpretation of the Extremadura pact. The agreement to invest María Guardiola includes a "total suppression of subsidies to NGOs that favor illegal immigration." For Vox, this can include Cáritas, as it welcomes migrants and refugees, while the PP says that this religious entity "can rest easy." In fact, there are also popular barons who have distanced themselves from the content of the understanding: the president of the Community of Madrid herself, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, spoke against "national priority": "You cannot illegally leave anyone out of requirements for which they have rights and outside of a system to which they have contributed," she stated. Meanwhile, Juanma Moreno Bonilla, the PP candidate to revalidate the presidency of Andalusia, has asked for the useful vote for the elections on May 17 to precisely avoid depending on Vox with a pact of these characteristics.

End of the extraordinary regularization

At another point in the motion, it is also forced that the repeal of the extraordinary regularization of migrants that is already underway be voted on in Congress. In any case, if PP and Vox managed to get the votes of Junts to approve this point, it would not imply anything in practical terms: a motion only urges the government and has no executive effects. Of course, it would be symbolic: it would be evident that Moncloa is carrying out a policy against the legislative majority.

In the same line of controversy, this Tuesday, the spokesperson for the Spanish government, Elma Saiz, has reproached the city councils governed by PP and Vox for putting "obstacles" in the regularization process, despite the fact that the procedure is regulated by the Spanish government, and has also criticized the documentation that must be submitted. One of the documents that is generating the longest queues in the administration is the vulnerability report. In this regard, she has warned that the Spanish government will monitor compliance with the Constitution regarding the rights of migrants, both with respect to the regularization process, and in the face of the PP and Vox pact in Extremadura which prioritizes residency when applying for aid.