Madrid. For the first time since the return of democracy to Spain more than four decades ago, an extreme right-wing party, the ascendant Vox, will form part of a regional government after having reached an agreement with the conservatives of the Popular Party.
The socialists of the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, immediately denounced what they described as a “shame pact”, while Vox did not hide its ambition to repeat the operation in other regions of the country, and even at the national level in the next general elections .
In a decentralized country, where the autonomous communities have considerable powers, Vox’s entry into the executive of Castilla y León (north of Madrid) has important political implications. This ultra-nationalist and anti-immigration party, which its detractors accuse of being nostalgic for Francoism, could use this region as a laboratory for its ideas.
“Today has been a historic day (…) for Vox,” celebrated Juan García-Gallardo, who will be the new vice president of Castilla y León. “This coalition government is going to give a good example to the rest of the autonomous communities, and also to the entire nation about the possibilities of government that can exist when the Popular Party and Vox come together,” he said in Valladolid, the capital of this region.
Thanks to this agreement, by which Vox also accesses three regional “ministries” and the presidency of the regional Parliament, the until now president, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco (PP), will be able to remain in charge of this right-wing fiefdom for 35 years .