The PP government in Extremadura brings forward elections to December 21.

MadridExtremadura will be the first PP region to be subjected to the test of the ballot box. The PP leader, María Guardiola, has decided to call early elections and call them for December 21st, in the face of Vox and the PSOE's refusal to approve next year's budget. In an appearance on Monday night, Guardiola justified the move to avoid "blockage." "Extremadura deserves to continue moving forward," she asserted. The move was immediately applauded by the PP's national leadership. "It shows responsibility and courage by putting the people of Extremadura first," Alberto Núñez Feijóo stated in a message to X.

The PP leadership wants to contrast the actions of the regions governed by their party with those of Pedro Sánchez. With Guardiola's announcement on the same day that Junts warned the Spanish prime minister to forget about approving budgets for next year because it is withdrawing parliamentary support, the PP has been able to do so. "Without a budget, you can't govern [...] In the case of the president of Extremadura, dignity prevails, which doesn't exist in the Moncloa Palace," reacted PP sources.

In Génova, they insist that the Spanish government should follow Guardiola's example. "Faced with the threat of blockage by parties that supported the investiture of a female president, but that now complicate the governability of a territory, it is necessary to call elections," say the same sources. Last year, the Extremaduran president already had to extend the budget. after the break with VoxA second extension would have meant governing through 2026 with the 2024 budget, a scenario incompatible with the offensive the PP has launched against Sánchez.

In the opinion of the Popular Party, it is unconstitutional to extend the public accounts for more than a year. In the case of the Spanish government, it will be the third consecutive year. A scenario that has led to The PP has raised a conflict of powers against the Spanish executive through the Senate for not yet having presented a budget for next year. The issue could end up in the hands of the Constitutional Court. This argument has led Guardiola to call early elections and could drag down other autonomous regions governed by the PP, such as Aragon, which has also not yet been able to approve budgets for next year and already had to extend them last year.

In contrast, the Valencian Community, Murcia, and the Balearic Islands have avoided this scenario by reaching controversial agreements with Vox with concessions on migration, democratic memory, and environmental issues.

A leader under investigation in the PSOE

The early elections in Extremadura have caught the PSOE in the region off guard due to the trial of Pedro Sánchez's brother. It is in that territory where David Sánchez allegedly committed the crimes of malfeasance and influence peddling for his employment with the Badajoz Provincial Council. Also facing trial in this case is the leader of the PSOE in Extremadura, Miguel Ángel Gallardo, who has accused Guardiola of following Feijóo's "mandate" to take advantage of this situation. "It's an opportunity to maintain that big lie," Gallardo said this Monday on Antena 3.