The People's Party (PP) and Vox had two meetings on Tuesday to test their cooperation in the autonomous communities. And it became clear that reaching an understanding will not be easy. In the morning, the two parties failed to reach an agreement on the election of the president of the Aragonese Parliament, a position the PP secured on its own. "We cannot give away positions without any guarantees from Vox," sources in Madrid explained—despite having granted them a seat at the table in Extremadura "in exchange for nothing." This staged event demonstrates that Jorge Azcón is still far from reaching an agreement with Santiago Abascal's party to remain as president of Aragon. In the afternoon, María Guardiola kicked off the investiture debate in the Extremadura Assembly without having yet obtained Vox's endorsement, appealing to the far-right party's "responsibility" to "not obstruct" the formation of a new government. "We are not incompatible, there is no wall between us," she declared.

Vox has a short-, medium-, and long-term plan to put Santiago Abascal in La Moncloa (the Spanish Prime Minister's official residence). The first step in this strategy is being taken these days in negotiations with the PP (People's Party) for the regional governments of Extremadura and Aragon, which will coincide with the elections in Castile and León and Andalusia. All of this is with an eye on the 2027 general elections. According to information obtained by ARA, the far-right's plan hinges on an initial demand: to enter the government of Extremadura. The excuse is that they don't trust the president, María Guardiola, but the reality is more complex; Vox intends to corner the Extremaduran leader while simultaneously making things easier for others. males Populars, for example, Jorge Azcón in Aragon.

The Aragonese elections have revealed a rapprochement between the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, and at least one mayor from the Aragonese Party (PAR), Horacio Palacio, the mayor of Fanlo. This rapprochement resulted in a promotional video In the midst of the election campaign and the victory of the far right in the municipality (nineteen votes and 36.5% of the vote, compared to just two in 2023, more than the regionalists obtained this time, who maintained one of the twenty votes they received three years ago). Although Vox's theoretical objective is to abolish the autonomous communities, it is not unusual for them to seek alliances with supposedly regionalist movements, including in the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands. In all three territories, the common denominators are ideology and rabid anti-Catalanism, with rejection of the Catalan Countries and the Catalan language.

Two days after the Aragonese elections, with Vox surges with double the number of deputies and a PP on the declineThe far right has made it clear that the males Popular parties seeking to form a coalition will have to pay a high price. This Tuesday, the focus was on Extremadura, where the snap election also failed to achieve the Popular Party's objective of gaining room to maneuver. The acting president of the regional government, María Guardiola, was nominated as a candidate and appealed for "responsibility," with harsh words for Santiago Abascal's party: "It cannot be that the PP, which won the elections with the support of 43.2% of voters, has to disguise itself as Vox," she added. But shortly afterward, she confirmed that the radical right had closed the door on supporting her and stated that it was up to her whether or not to hold new elections. Vox's secretary general, Ignacio Garriga, announced a "resounding no" to supporting her because "she has not understood the mandate of the ballot box."

A narrow victory for the People's Party (PP) over the Socialist Party (PSOE) in the Franja region. The PP garnered 13% more votes than the Socialists overall in the region—6,280 votes to the Socialists' 5,526—but the result paints a different picture of the balance of power than in the rest of the autonomous community. The 13% difference in favor of the PP stands in stark contrast to the situation in Aragon as a whole, where the gap between the two parties widens to 40% in favor of the PP. This suggests that the Franja remains a more contested territory and one where the implementation of Socialism is more resilient at the local level.

With less than a month to go before the elections in Castile and León – they are on March 15 – the People's Party (PP) is seeing the scenario from Extremadura repeat itself in Aragon. Like María Guardiola, Jorge Azcón (PP) won the regional elections, but not with a sufficient majority, and he is more dependent on Vox than before the election was called. The far-right party doubled its results in Sunday's Aragonese elections and is now demanding its share of the pie: this Monday, the national spokesperson for the far-right, José Antonio Fúster, expressed interest in joining the regional government and outlined his priorities: he has conditioned his support on combating green policies and immigration. Thus, he has demanded ministries with real powers and a budget to be able to influence day-to-day management, even though the snap election was precisely due to a disagreement between the PP and Vox over agreeing on a new regional budget. "We want very clear responsibilities with very clear budgets to implement the policies we want to implement," explained Fúster, who urged the PP to sit down and negotiate tomorrow. "When you don't have an absolute majority, you have to reach an agreement," the president of Aragon, Jorge Azcón, had anticipated just before entering the PP's national executive committee meeting this Monday, which met in Madrid to analyze the results of the Aragonese elections. This message was later echoed by the PP leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who did not hesitate to explicitly address Santiago Abascal's party: "Responsibility," Feijóo demanded of Vox. The Popular Party acknowledges its dependence on Vox, and while they warn that they will establish their own profile—"we are not the same," Feijóo asserted—they are aware that they will have to find common ground. "We must reach an understanding," reiterated the leader of the People's Party (PP), who demanded that Santiago Abascal's party not generate "frustration" among the people. "Vox cannot become a wall," he said, adding that citizens must also "punish" those who "prevent us from governing," alluding to the far right. In fact, the PP fears that the situation in Aragon will mirror that of Extremadura, where Guardiola won the elections and has yet to reach any agreement with the far right. Tomorrow, the president of the Extremadura Assembly, Manuel Naharro, will propose Guardiola as a candidate for president, knowing, however, that she does not yet have guaranteed support.

The week begins under the shadow of two pieces of news, one good and one bad. The bad one? Train drivers' strikeThe good news? The AP-7 motorway reopened this morning after being closed for three weeks. All three lanes between Martorell and Gelida are now open in the direction of Tarragona.

Although the outcome of the Aragonese elections cannot be considered a surprise, the constant growth of the far right in every election of this new political cycle should be a cause for concern, both for the political class and for the rest of society. In the case of Aragon, the pattern already seen in Extremadura has been repeated: early elections called by the PP with the intention of strengthening themselves have ended up strengthening Vox. Jorge Azcón is now objectively in a worse position than before calling the elections, as he will have to negotiate with a strengthened far right that will demand a higher price than in 2023 in exchange for his investiture. The move to bring forward the elections has backfired, because not only have the citizens not supported him as he requested to overcome Vox's deadlock, but they have punished him with two fewer seats. And now he will have to face extremely tough negotiations in which, as has already been seen in Extremadura, Abascal's party will put him under maximum pressure. In Aragon, moreover, Azcón finds himself in a paradoxical situation: opening the doors to an anti-immigration party precisely in a sparsely populated region with low unemployment that needs, precisely, immigration. Where will the workers supposedly needed to build all the data centers announced in recent years come from if not from immigration? Who is saving the primary sector, which Vox claims to defend, if not the newcomers, who are willing to do the hard farm work that locals reject? Aragon will now have to live with this contradiction and with the instability inherent in any pact with the far right, as was demonstrated when it decided to withdraw from regional governments. Therefore, if Azcón aspires to have a centrist and moderate government, one that seeks broad consensus, he should renounce any pact with Vox and be open to other types of alliances. In fact, the PSOE would do well to offer Azcón an abstention to avoid a pact or a repeat election.

Excluding Catalonia from the equation, the last Socialist electoral victory dates back to May 28, 2023. At that time, despite losing popular support, the PSOE came in first in the regional elections in Castilla-La Mancha, Asturias, the Canary Islands, and Extremadura, although it failed to form a government in the latter two. Adding the two recent victories in Catalonia, in 2024 and 2021, the balance for the last six years is 6 electoral victories and 21 defeats, counting general, regional, and European elections. How is it possible that, despite this disastrous electoral cycle, Sánchez remains in La Moncloa and is about to surpass José María Aznar as the second longest-serving president in the history of Spanish democracy?

The president of Aragon, Jorge Azcón, called early elections because he failed to reach an agreement with Vox to pass the budget. "We must listen to the voice of the people of Aragon," he said in December when he announced the elections. However, the move backfired: although his party won the election, it lost two seats (from 28 to 26), and the far-right Vox party surged from 7 to 14 seats, doubling its results. Thus, far from reducing his dependence on the far-right, Azcón is now at their mercy: if he wants to be invested as president, he will have to reach an agreement with Santiago Abascal's party, which has thrown itself into this election campaign, as it already did in Extremadura. In his assessment on election night, Azcón tried to sidestep the negotiations that await him if he wants to retain the presidency: "The truth tonight is that we have won [...]. It is true that we have lost two seats, but no other party has had the results of the PP." "Only we can form a government for the next four years," he added.

"We'll have good news about that soon," says José Miguel Sánchez, the general manager of the Zaragoza Chamber of Commerce, smiling when asked about the possibility of Aragon surpassing Catalonia in per capita income and moving from being the fifth richest autonomous community in Spain to the fourth. Sánchez is the leading figure of the economic euphoria reigning in Aragon thanks to the influx of millions in investments announced by major American technology companies like Amazon and Microsoft, as well as Blackstone, to build data centers. So far, some thirty have already been announced. The figures are staggering, but depending on the specific investment, we're talking about sums of money that exceed Aragon's current GDP, which stands at 49 billion euros. "This is Aragon's moment," declares Sánchez from his office in the Chamber's historic headquarters, located next to the construction site of the Nueva Romareda stadium, one of the football stadiums vying to host matches of the 2030 World Cup.

Aragon goes to the polls this Sunday for the first time in early elections, not coinciding with other elections, but there is very little doubt about the outcome. The conservative majority (PP+Vox+PAR), which currently holds 36 of the 67 seats, is expected to rise above 40, in line with the conservative wave sweeping Spain, but which, as was already evident in Extremadura, primarily benefits the far right. There is also no doubt that the PP will be the leading party and that, therefore, Jorge Azcón is the most likely candidate to be re-elected president. However, in the final days of the campaign, Azcón has appeared tense and agitated, particularly raising his voice against Vox. Why? Because, like María Guardiola before him, he called early elections to overcome Vox's obstruction of the budget, and now everything suggests that he will be even more hamstrung by Santiago Abascal's party. In short, a move designed to strengthen the PP may end up strengthening Vox and complicating life for the Aragonese president.

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and the Spanish government will face a particularly difficult time in the coming weeks. Their poor showing in the Aragonese regional elections will reignite speculation about the possibility of a general election this year. The ultimate test, however, will be in Andalusia next June. Until then, calculations and rumors will continue, but it is unlikely that Pedro Sánchez will dissolve the Valencian Parliament (Corts) before completing the current cycle, which includes Castile and León in March and the Andalusian elections three months later. In any case, he could combine the latter with the general election, but that would seem like a desperate measure. In fact, many Socialists believe that everything still points to a desire to see out the legislature, however much the PSOE may be struggling to adapt to the circumstances and try to recover, despite the poor electoral results, both those already achieved and those they fear from now on.

The People's Party (PP) sought a special guest for the closing of its campaign in Aragon. Specifically, at the event organized by New Generations, the PP's youth wing, immediately following the final rally with Jorge Azcón—the current president of Aragon and PP candidate—and Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the far-right agitator Vito Quiles, who also ran in the European elections with the far-right party, moderated the discussion. The event, entitled "De K-ñas," consisted of an interview with Jorge Azcón by Quiles and an "informal" conversation with young party members. At the close of the election campaign, Azcón called for continued strength to advance along the same path as this legislative term. Polls favor him in maintaining first place, but also point to an increasing dependence on Vox.

Jorge Pueyo Sanz (Fuentes, 1995) receives ARA in his office at the Congress of Deputies on one of his last days in the lower house. After two years in the Sumar parliamentary group, he is leaving Madrid to lead the Chunta Aragonesista candidacy in the February 8 elections in Aragon. He still regrets not having passed a national budget, celebrates the warm reception he's receiving in the streets these days—unseen since the days of José Antonio Labordeta—presents himself as a disciple of Gabriel Rufián in public speaking, and acknowledges that, with elections not coinciding with any other region, his "dream" has come true.

The election campaign in Aragon has one main protagonist: Catalonia. As has happened before in several other regions of Spain, the elections are focused on stoking anti-Catalan sentiment from parties of different political leanings. The Aragonese president, Jorge Azcón of the People's Party, seized upon the issue of funding to put Catalonia in the eye of the storm, speaking of "privileges." This strategy is aimed at attacking the Socialist candidate, former government spokesperson Pilar Alegría, and is also being used by the Chunta Aragonesista party, which has been involved in several controversies regarding funding. And what is happening within the Socialist Party? Voters will have noticed a radical change with Alegría, who has distanced herself from the anti-Catalan style of Javier Lambán.

The second battle of the Spanish political parties in this election cycle is underway. In this second round – the first was in Extremadura – the ring for the main national leaders moves to Aragon, a region called to the polls on February 8. Although these are again regional elections, the event is another litmus test for Pedro Sánchez, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, and Santiago Abascal. The survey by the Center for Sociological Research (CIS), published this Thursday, the day before the start of the election campaign, predicts a scenario similar to that of Extremadura. The People's Party (PP) would win the elections with a result practically identical to that of 2023 – if it currently holds 28 seats, six short of an absolute majority, it would obtain between 25 and 29 – and would be even more closely tied to Vox, which would confirm its rise by doubling its seats again – going from 7 to between 10 and 13. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) would have no chance of governing.

The nearly 88,000 Aragonese voters who opted for the Sumar ballot in the 2023 general elections will face a dilemma in the upcoming regional elections on February 8th. While on that occasion they were able to vote for a unified candidacy of the forces to the left of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), now they will have to choose between three different lists: that of Izquierda Unida (United Left) and Sumar, that of Podemos, and that of the Chunta Aragonesista (CHA) and Verds Equo. Adding to this predicament is the fact that, while competing electorally, the Chunta will remain part of the Sumar group in Congress. Of the three parties, the CHA currently holds the most seats in the Aragonese Parliament: it has three representatives, ahead of Podemos (1 representative) and Izquierda Unida (1 representative). To make matters worse, the CHA candidate is none other than... Jorge Pueyo, member of Congress and, therefore, a member of Sumar in the lower house.

Aragon will hold early elections. This decision was made by the regional president, Jorge Azcón of the People's Party, following the failure of negotiations with Vox to approve the budget, and as he has indicated The CountryThe elections will take place on February 8. "It was not possible to reach any agreement," confirmed the Aragonese Minister of Finance, Roberto Bermúdez de Castro, at a press conference after a final meeting with Santiago Abascal's party. "The measures they are proposing are not legal or are not within the jurisdiction of the Aragonese government," he argued. Azcón announced on Saturday that he was giving himself "a week" to assess whether he had enough support to pass the budget with the far-right, but on Tuesday the Minister of Finance himself had already He stated that the demands of the far right were "absolutely unacceptable." and has already labeled them "illegal." Vox demanded the rejection of the European Green Deal, but also the disregard for environmental regulations on river cleanup. The Aragonese Finance Minister has also made it clear that withdrawing aid to any entity that assists migrants, as requested by Santiago Abascal's party, is unreasonable.

BonÀrea's expansion beyond Catalonia includes a mandatory stop in Aragon. The Guissona-based company (Segarra) has been building a large-scale production and logistics center in the town of Épila, in the province of Zaragoza, since 2019. This center is intended to supply the company's supermarkets beyond the Catalan market.