Despite the PP’s persistence in ensuring that it governs the Balearic Islands alone, Vox continues to tighten the screws on the Executive led by Marga Prohens. If this Tuesday the extreme right party overturned in the first vote the regional accounts prepared by the conservatives for 2025, thereby evidencing the weakness of the popular party at the head of the Government, those of Santiago Abascal have taken a step further: They demand the elimination of Catalan as a vehicular language in public education on the islands, contrary to what is established in this sense by the Linguistic Normalization Law of 1986, which establishes that institutions must ensure knowledge and the progressive use of one’s own language – as considered by the Balearic Statute of Autonomy – in the field of education.
If last year Vox extracted more than 22 million euros from the PP to implement its ultra agenda in the Balearic Islands as a condition to support the 2024 Budgets, a year later the party led in the islands by Patricia de las Heras demands that changes be made in the different educational laws to suppress Catalan as a vehicular language in education or guarantee that 50% of classes are taught in Spanish. These are, in fact, two of Vox’s main red lines to offer its support for the 2025 accounts.
The situation between PP and Vox has worsened after the conservatives announced that they will repeal the 34 amendments that the extreme right presented to the autonomous Decree Law of administrative simplification, and that the popular ones incorporated last week by mistake, taking the Balearic legislation back decades. back in environmental matters and normalization of the Catalan language. Among other aspects, the measures validated by mistake contemplate the suppression of Catalan in public service and as a vehicular language in education, the authorization to build in areas of maximum protection, build in areas of coastal easement, legalize polo fields in areas especially vulnerable and set back in areas of equality and gender identity in education.
At a press conference, the parliamentary spokesperson for Vox, Manuela Cañadas, criticized that one of the reasons why the party has overturned the regional accounts in the first vote is because neither of them have been able to reach agreements on educational matters. In this sense, Cañadas has criticized that the Minister of Education and Universities, Antoni Vera, “has not wanted to move a single comma, has not sat down to negotiate and has not wanted to give anything.” Thus, he has asserted that his support for the accounts depends on the PP “wanting to sit down and talk and reach agreements on education.”
“We give in a lot and you are deceiving me, because there is nothing more to talk about,” snapped the spokesperson, who pointed out that Vox has not had contact with the PP since this Tuesday, when its party overturned the budgets in a presentation. According to Cañadas, the conservatives have already “deceived” Vox in the 2024 Budget by validating amendments from their party in items where there was no financial provision. Consequently, he reproaches, “nothing has been accomplished.” Looking ahead to next year’s accounts, Cañadas has criticized that the PP “has tried to do exactly the same thing”, so, in his opinion, “the anger is justified.”
On the other hand, regarding the announcement by the general secretary of Vox, Ignacio Garriga, about the suspension of budget negotiations with the PP in the communities where the popular ones depend on their support due, according to them, to their approach to the PSOE regarding the immigration policies, Cañadas has asserted that if the Government “does not welcome Menas”, in reference to unaccompanied foreign minors, “it will not affect the Balearic Islands”. Otherwise, he has warned, there will be repercussions.
The PP warns that “it will not accept blackmail”
For his part, the PP spokesperson in the Balearic Parliament, Sebastià Sagreras, has warned that he “will not accept blackmail” from Vox to approve the regional Budgets, stating that he will “continue negotiating” with all parliamentary groups. In his opinion, Abascal’s people overturned the accounts in a presentation as a “measure of pressure” that, he assured, “will have no effect.”
Along these lines, he has stressed that the Government “will not move” regarding its desire to correct the amendments incorporated by mistake in the Administrative Simplification Law, despite the fact that Vox conditions its support on their being maintained. Likewise, he has asserted that the PP will not eliminate Catalan as a vehicular language in education. “If this is the red line to support the Budgets, Vox will not support the Budgets,” he said.
Likewise, he has attacked Vox for “politically using a human error to negotiate” – in reference to the amendments voted by mistake – and has reiterated that in last week’s plenary session “there was a lack of fair play” by not allowing Abascal’s people to repeat the vote on the measures. “We understand that the correction of the amendments should not interfere in the negotiation of the budgets and that it is not acceptable to use human error to negotiate and we will not move from this idea,” he insisted.
Likewise, the popular has indicated that his group does not know “what excuse, reason or argument” from Vox to listen to, since a few days ago they demanded to maintain the amendments while this Wednesday Bambú has announced that it is breaking off the negotiations in all the autonomies, referring also because they feel “deceived”. Sagreras has stressed that his party “is clear” that it governs as a minority and that, therefore, they are open to negotiating amendments with all groups during the next two weeks. The current scenario is the same as last year, he stated.
In the debate on the 2024 accounts, the then extreme right spokesperson, Idoia Ribas, warned: “Vox does not extort anyone, it only kneels before God.” On that occasion, the PP was able to carry out its budgets after bowing to the demands of Abascal’s people, who, in exchange for providing their support to the accounts, extracted from the popular party the commitment to allocate 20 million euros to dismantle the school in Catalan and eliminate all subsidies to employers and unions.
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