The Valencian Community once again became the center of politics in Spain. At a time when the debate on the decentralization of institutions is gaining momentum, Valencia will host the 40th federal congress of the PSOE starting this Friday. On October 3, the leader of the PP, Pablo Casado, Pablo Casado took a crowd bath in the city’s bullring in search of the lost splendor in what was an impregnable popular fiefdom for 20 years, until he lost the major institutions in 2015, beset by corruption.
Why the Valencian Community? The first answer is obvious: by votes. But there are other factors that have to do with the political situation. The main socialist federation in affiliates is Andalusia, but it is in the hands of the PP, as is Madrid; and Catalonia continues to digest the process. And the most populated autonomy governed (in coalition) by the Socialists is the Valencian one. Its president, Ximo Puig, has also become a faithful ally of Pedro Sánchez, and has managed to open debates on the need to decentralize Spain, to reform the financing system that expired in 2014 or to study compensation for the capital effect of Madrid .
“The Valencian Community is seen as a model that combines political times in Spain: social justice, progressive policies and coalition governments,” say PSPV-PSOE sources. Puig has been one of the first to come out in defense of the future Housing Law agreed by the PSOE and Podemos – he already did it with the pardons to politicians sentenced in the you process. And it does so legitimized by a decree law approved more than a year ago that regulated the preferential acquisition of homes through the rights of first refusal and retraction, which has allowed the public park to be expanded by more than 450 properties and sponsored by Unides Podem, its partner in the Botànic Government, together with Compromís.
For Pablo Casado’s PP, the Valencian Community is a “nailed thorn.” The successes of the popular ones have been sustained on the Madrid and Valencian squares, necessary to reach Moncloa. This was the main argument used by the Valencian leadership just elected in July, with Carlos Mazón and María José Catalá at the helm, to convince the national leadership that they would fill the bullring. And they filled it. The expectations of the Valencian PP are positive according to internal reports, with a hypothetical tie between the bloc on the right and the ruling left, according to popular sources. There are reasons to “put all the meat on the grill,” says Catalá. The image of the full square was also a warning in case Puig decides to advance the regional elections (an intention that the president denies), but also a call for a useful vote addressed to the supporters of Vox and Ciudadanos and the impulse from Genoa to a federation directed by politicians loyal to Casado.
In the socialist ranks the data of the PP are not believed and they insist that their demoscopy confirms that the Botànic coalition government has enough and even the intention to vote of the socialists is growing. However, there is concern, especially about the electoral behavior of Alicante, where ministers have not stopped parading in recent times. The far right takes air in regions such as Vega Baja, closer to Murcia.
The Valencian socialists, however, show firmness and deny that the rally with which the PSOE will close its federal congress on Sunday at the Valencia Fair has been organized in response to the full crowd of the PP bullring, as pointed out by the conservative formation . They remember that the 2017 congress already closed with a rally, “it is not something improvised”, and they play down the self-esteem kicks organized in the squares. They assure that the reality is different.