Spain: far-right Vox in regional government
Spain's largest autonomous community, Castilla y León, has a new government: a coalition between the conservative People's Party (PP) and the far-right party Vox, which will be represented with three ministries, the parliamentary presidency and a vice-presidency. This is the first time that Vox will be in government in Spain. The national press is very divided over this development.
Which European values?
eldiario.es sees Spain's credibility within Europe under threat:
“It is very difficult not to write about the war in Ukraine. ... But something has happened in Spain that is linked to the Ukrainian drama because it has to do with the core of 'European values', which are seriously threatened by Putin's deranged aggression. ... With its pact with Vox in Castilla y León, the PP has taken a disturbing step that would be - at least for now - unimaginable in other advanced European democracies. ... From now on, when the PP calls for Putin to be stopped in order to defend 'European values', we will have a clearer idea of what it is talking about. And many of us will realise that we are not talking about the same thing.”
A united right can beat the left
El Mundo celebrates the formation of the coalition and is convinced that Vox can bring a change of government in 2023:
“The pact between the PP and Vox for the government of Castilla y León is the first step towards normalising and rebalancing Spanish politics. It will not be the last. The Andalusian elections, the local and regional elections and the parliamentary elections, in which the right can oust Sánchez and his partners from power, are still to come. ... The best thing about this first PP-Vox pact, necessary but not yet sufficient to oust the left from power, is that it was imposed by the weight of reality. ... Vox is the only partner against Sánchez.”