Spain: after the breakthrough of Vox in Castile and Leon, the Popular Party in turmoil

The leader of the far-right Vox party in Castile and Leon, Juan Garcia Gallardo during a press conference in Valladolid, on February 14, 2022, the day after the results of the regional elections.

AFP - CESAR MANSO

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

The legislative elections in Castile and Leon allowed the Popular Party (right) this weekend to win 31 seats in the regional Parliament, against 28 for the Socialists.

To govern, he will therefore need the support of the ultras of Vox.

Advertising

Read more

With our correspondent in Madrid, 

François Musseau

How to avoid governing with the extreme right?

In the mind of Alfonso Mañueco, the question must go round and round.

Given 

the results of this Sunday's election

, the conservative leader of Castile and Leon sees that the only way to achieve an absolute majority is to form an alliance with the ultras of Vox, now the third force in the regional parliament.

But this poses difficulties.

First of all at the regional level, because the leaders of

Vox

are already demanding two important conditions: renouncing the law on domestic violence, because according to them there is no specific violence against women;

cancel the decree on historical memory, a memorial law obliging to open the countless mass graves of the civil war.

But for the People's Party, the difficulty is also at the national level, since the leader Pablo Casado sees himself disavowed with the rise of the extreme right.

Several barons claim that his leadership, perceived as too moderate, is now in question and that he should hand over to

Isabel Diaz-Ayuso

.

The populist president of Madrid, she had managed to contain the ultras of Vox during the regional legislative elections last year.

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_EN

  • Spain