Alex Trelinski
THE far-right Vox party has achieved its first foothold in running a regional government in Spain after it secured a coalition deal on Thursday with the Partido Popular(PP) in Castilla y Leon.
Elections on February 13 saw the PP fall short of an overall majority again and its previous coalition party, the centrist Ciudadanos party was wiped out as Vox made big gains.
Thursday’s announcement is a major move for the PP following the pending change in party leadership as Pablo Casado steps down in early April amid concerns that the PP has lost support to Vox in recent years.
Current president, Alfonso Mañueco, said he had reached a deal with Vox which allows for a ‘stable and solid government’.
Carlos Pollan will become the first Vox speaker of the regional parliament and Juan Garcia-Gallardo will become Alfonso Mañueco’s deputy as vice-president.
Three ministerial positions will also be given to Vox.
Negotiations between the PP and Vox will said to be fraught early on as the far-right party wanted gender violence laws repealed along with measures to compensate relatives of victims abused during the regime of dictator, General Francisco Franco.
The PP stressed their agreement with Vox made no concessions over those issues.
Vox has become notorious for its anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment, as well as its socially conservative positions on women and the LGBTQ community.
Last week, Vox’s national leader Santiago Abascal said that Ukrainian refugees should be accepted into Spain but branded Muslim migrants crossing into the country from Africa as ‘invaders’.
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