The decibels have dropped in the Cortes of Castilla y León once PP and Vox have joined forces to form a Government and head towards a new legislature. The pact reduces the specific weight of the provincial formations, which account for seven of the 81 attorneys in the Chamber, a record figure that, however, has not served to influence the formation of the Executive. The three parliamentarians of the Union of the Leonese People (UPL) and Soria ¡Ya! They have come together to have their own group in the hemicycle (the one from Por Ávila will continue in the Mixed Group), united by claiming the shortcomings of their territories against the centralism that Vox champions and embraces the PP.
The absolute majority of the future coalition to promote their plans displeases these small parties, who aspired to influence governance and thus achieve some of the objectives they claim for their territories. Luis Mariano Santos, the only UPL attorney until their presence tripled on February 13, reproaches that the extreme right “does not believe in the autonomous communities but has fought for its best seats”, since the distribution of positions occupied a good part of the differences with the PP until they were assigned the presidency of the Parliament, the vice-presidency of the Board and three ministries. The probable investiture of the current acting president, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco (PP), “does not anticipate optimism” for the Leonese, critical of those who “in 35 years of mandates have impoverished the Leonese region and now allow social rights to be questioned”, in reference to the more than three decades of popular governments.
The numbers of Mañueco with those of Juan García-Gallardo, assures Santos, invite the conservatives to err if they “have a short-term view” and advance only by relying on their partners instead of consulting the entire parliamentary arch and addressing local claims. “The PP is going to look for us when Vox proposes initiatives against these social rights,” predicts the parliamentarian. His counterpart from Soria, Ángel Ceña, reiterates that his votes were given by his province, but that many demands coincide with unpopulated areas of Castilla y León. Ceña compares the current situation with that of 2019, when Mañueco governed thanks to Ciudadanos, and in whose speech he said “empty words and commitments that have not been fulfilled.” “Depopulation is the biggest problem in the community, it will be necessary to see if they are willing to work for it,” says Ceña. Both agree that they will give their support to the PP to prevent Vox from bringing setbacks in equality: “We cannot negotiate a highway to defend equality.”
The representative of Por Ávila, Pedro Pascual, who revalidated the position obtained in 2019, considers that Vox will have to demonstrate that provincial roots that it proclaims through interest in those places. “They have to comply and assert themselves if they really believe in the equality of the provinces,” says Pascual, who disapproves of those electoral campaign messages, in which almost all the contenders “promise the same,” but then, during the legislatures, they do not execute it due to political differences. The impulse of localism, embodied in 2019 by Santos and him, has multiplied in these elections, leaving images that for the man from Avila are “like a deja vu”, Well, that is how he felt when he heard Ceña cry out against the inequality of Soria, something that he feels is common in Ávila. “I will support everything that is good for Ávila or Castilla y León, wherever it comes from,” he concludes. What happened in this community opens an intense electoral cycle until 2023, with regional, provincial and general appointments on the way. This scenario, these politicians expose, can influence the behavior of the big parties in the Board and in the opposition: “It can be decisive how they behave here.”
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