The battle of Valencia: PP and PSOE are at stake in the city of Rita Barberá that Compromís conquered

If the elections were a boxing match,

would be the ring for the first round.

Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Pedro Sánchez are playing in the Valencian capital for a good part of the victory that will mean occupying the Moncloa at the end of the year.

The coup in Valencia will be key for both

and the

, which are focusing their pre-election efforts on a city that eight years ago evicted

to elect a Compromís mayor.

First, because it will pave the way for the Palau de la Generalitat in the May elections.

And second, because it will send the message of the beginning of the end of

... or of its resistance.

Valencia is the symbol of the hegemonic power that the PP had in its hands for two decades, in which the former mayoress Rita Barberá had no rival.

She was "the mayoress of Spain."

Hence, governing again in this city is key for the PP.

The

is also the main autonomy governed by the Socialists.

And that is why it is also the main objective for Feijóo's PP.

Both parties are already demonstrating that the battle for Valencia is all or nothing.

Sánchez chose the capital of the Turia to present his main municipal candidates and cover the current vice mayor of Valencia, the socialist

, who aspires to the

to Compromís.

And Feijóo has also chosen Valencia this weekend for the 26th Intermunicipal of the PP, which has brought together the party's senior staff around its candidate for mayor,

, and the regional president, Carlos Mazón.

"We return to put Valencia at the center of popular and Spanish municipalism," said the general secretary of the PP,

, at the opening of the act, in which there was no lack of tribute to Rita Barberá.

In fact, part of Catalá's strategy to recover lost ground in Valencia has focused in recent years on healing wounds and reconciling with the Barberá family, whose legacy does not tire of claiming to reconnect with those considered classic voters of the PP.

Many of them emigrated to Ciudadanos and Vox.

But after the debacle of 2015, the polls give the victory to the PP in Valencia for the first time.

Catalá, however, will depend on how the left behaves in order to aspire to the leadership.

Of course, the polls give

amortized, but not

, a party with which everything indicates that they will have to agree.

The left also needs to retain Valencia so as not to put Ximo Puig's third legislature at risk.

The mayor, Joan Ribó, is today the main electoral asset of Compromís, for which he himself was dragged to repeat as a candidate in 2023 -he questioned his continuity- when the judicial situation of Mónica Oltra became complicated .

In 2019, 106,430 people put the Compromís ballot in the municipal ballot box out of a total of 386,347.

Therefore, Compromís is also risking it in the city to save the blow that will mean going to regional elections without Oltra as a candidate.

The unknown is

, which disappeared in the city in 2019.

PP and PSOE, for their part, were separated by barely 10,000 votes: 84,491 for the PP and 74,848 for the PSOE.

The Socialists do not govern

or

, ​​so achieving the Mayor's Office of Valencia is one of the great objectives.

Unlike what happens in other areas, in Gómez's party it is understood that the Valencia vote operates in an urban key, so even Pedro Sánchez's damaged brand is not seen as a drag.

Quite the opposite.

In this case, Valencia and

move in different coordinates.

For the PP, the symbolism of recovering Valencia is undeniable.

As no one doubts that the rise of Catalá could in turn give victory to Mazón in the regional elections.

With little doubt that Isabel Díaz Ayuso will retain Madrid, the Valencian Community is the main territory that the PP has in its power to reconquer.

The polls point to a technical tie between the blocks, at the most delicate moment for the Ximo Puig government.

The crisis of Oltra's departure was then followed by that of the

, which has targeted the Valencian president for the alleged irregular financing of his party.

And the treatment of the Government of Sánchez to Alicante does not help, precisely where Mazón and the PP have their fiefdom.

For Sánchez to lose the most important autonomy for the Socialists would be a serious blow.

He would confirm what until now is only a sensation: the "Feijóo effect".

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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• PP

• Valencia

• commitment

• PSOE

• Rita Barbera

• Pedro Sanchez

• Alicante

• Ximo Puig

• vox

• citizens

• Alberto Núñez Feijóo