The PP gives in to Vox's xenophobic and denialist theses to save its regional power.

MadridThe debate over immigration that led to the split in the regional governments between the People's Party (PP) and Vox eight months ago and that blocked budget negotiations in the regions governed by the Popular Party (PP) in a minority has ceased to create an insurmountable gap between Alberto Núñez Feijóo's party and the far right. To seal the preliminary agreement that will allow the approval of the Valencian Community's budget, Carlos Mazón embraced Vox's xenophobic views on this matter—including its climate denialism—and Alberto Núñez Feijóo blessed it, citing the benefit it represents for the "stability" of Valencians. Furthermore, Génova denies that this is a shift and asserts that the PP's position "has not changed at all." In contrast, Santiago Abascal's party took the opportunity to boast and celebrated the fact that the Valencian president had "publicly reversed himself" and "acknowledged that Vox was right."

"We are very comfortable," insist sources from Génova, who, although they claim to have been informed of the negotiation, have not directly participated in the conversations led by Mazón. The national leadership of the PP has as its mantra the defense of the autonomy of the autonomous communities, even when it is a strategic decision that marks the step for Feijóo himself. In fact, the Valencian president was already the one who, in the midst of the pre-campaign for the general elections of June 23, got ahead of the rest of men and closed an agreement with Vox to form a government in July 2023. At that time, the PP leader also embraced the pact and justified it despite admitting months later that it harmed him in the electoral race against Pedro Sánchez.

On this occasion, Feijóo also defends the pre-agreement and his team denies that the PP is giving in to any blackmail (neither from Vox nor from Mazón himself) despite the fact that at the time the far right threatened to break up the executives with the scarecrow of immigration, they were boasting about not having accepted. According to Génova, it is Vox that has changed because it has a "reputational problem" due to its ties to the President of the United States, Donald Trump, and because it is declining in the polls – in the CIS this Monday it fell by a point and a half. Mazón's movement, they tell the PP leadership, "may bring" the unblocking of the accounts in the rest of the autonomous regions closer, citing the cases of Murcia and Aragon as examples.

"We don't know what their reaction might be," said Vox Secretary General Ignacio Garriga in a press conference this Monday regarding the other PP regional presidents, warning them that "they already know which direction they're going to turn to Vox to obtain a budget." In any case, Génova makes it clear that, just as it has endorsed Mazón's movement, it will also endorse those who can do the rest. With budgets for the autonomous regions and no accounts in the State, the PP would consolidate its territorial power, even if the price to pay is this discursive shift, which they, in turn, deny having made.

Mazón, hot potato

However, not to completely hold back, the PP leadership emphasizes that they support the general parameters outlined by Mazón, but not the fine print of the pact because they are not yet familiar with it. With this move, Feijóo also has one less argument to force the departure of the Valencian president, who is increasingly under scrutiny, although the PP leadership maintains that his political future does not depend on the financial statements. PP spokesperson Borja Sémper criticized the lack of a "cross-cutting" agreement due to the lack of willingness of the rest of the opposition—referring primarily to the Socialists—and invited them to join the "reconstruction" financial statements.

Sémper denied the change of position, stating that, regarding the Green Pact, Feijóo had already stated more than a year ago that he was in favor of the ecological transition but against the "activist dictatorship" in this area. "We advocate reducing bureaucracy and hyperregulation," he said at a press conference. Regarding immigration, the spokesperson argued that the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum "expressly addresses the possibility of expelling illegal immigrants."