Vox's split in Valencia leaves the City Council government in a minority

Valencia"The arithmetic is what it is" and "all options are open." The last two statements by the now ex-Vox councillor at Valencia City Hall, Cecilia Herrero, who confirmed on Monday that she is moving to the non-affiliated group, open up an unprecedented scenario in the Valencian council, given that her departure means that the current PP and Vox government team is left in the minority. Her farewell joins that of her partner, councillor Juanma Badenas, who was removed by the far-right party last week while he is being investigated for an alleged case of corruption.

In a conference of just over five minutes in which he only read a brief statement and answered only three questions very briefly, Herrero did not clarify what his actions will be from now on. "I will do what my freedom of conscience dictates" and "the commitment made to the Valencians," he limited himself to saying.

Regarding the reasons for her decision, the councillor explained that she has requested voluntary resignation for three reasons. First, due to the "lack of support and the contempt and mockery" she has received from the far-right party in the criminal proceedings affecting her following a complaint against her for an alleged hate crime after she demanded that former Madrid MP Serigne Mbaye "return to his country". She has also been subjected to the "lack of support and interest in the face of threats" that she claims she has suffered after making "comments on illegal immigration", although, in her opinion, they fit in with her party's discourse.

Despite trying to separate her decision from the situation of her partner, the councillor attended the press conference accompanied by Badenas, with whom she did not hesitate to take a photo. Asked why she waited for Vox to remove Badenas to make the decision, the councillor claimed that a swastika was painted on her home a week ago and that her party's reaction was to mock her.

Catalá's response

The departure of Herrero and Badenas leaves Vox with only two councillors and complicates the situation of the conservative bloc and the PP mayor, María José Català, who had appeared as one of the options to replace Carlos Mazón together with the Generalitat. The correlation of forces in the council will now be as follows: the populars have 13 councillors and Vox is left with 2 because it loses the two unaffiliated ones, so now the governing coalition has less than the left: 15 councillors compared to the 16 of Compromís and the PSPV.

Precisely because of the uncertainty generated by the situation, Catalá has tried to convey calm this Monday and, in response to questions from the media, has recalled that she began the legislature in a minority and negotiating Vox's support for each measure. Catalá's calm is also based on the fact that it is unlikely that the PSPV and Compromís will add their votes to the two former Vox councillors to present a motion of censure. Another thing is the difficulty that the municipal government may have in approving its initiatives, the most important of which are the municipal budgets for 2026 and 2027.

In order to try to get Vox to resolve the situation internally and reach an agreement with Herrero and Badenas, Catalá has granted the far-right party a few days' margin. During this period, she will postpone any remodelling of the municipal government's powers, also avoiding the changes becoming a dead letter as has happened with the restructuring approved last week thanks to which Herrero, who is now leaving, assumed some of the powers that had been withdrawn in Badenas. "This is exclusively a problem for Vox and one that Vox must resolve if it wants to have credibility in the government of the institutions," concluded the mayor.

Catalá's request has found an answer this afternoon when the state spokesperson for Vox, José Antonio Fúster, has asked Juanma Badenas and Cecilia Herrero to return the minutes they occupy in the council, considering that the citizens vote for the party. A request that at this time, the councilors have not satisfied.