There would be no king’s speech without subsequent consideration by political parties. On this occasion, the reactions of the Valencian formations to the words of Felipe VI formed different blocs from those usually configured in the Cortes. While PPCV and PSPV applauded the monarch’s message, which, with nuances, had the greatest political content in the process since 2017, their natural partners, Vox and Compromís, respectively, adopted considerably colder positions. Particularly notable is the case of Vox, in which no official statement was made by any of the party’s representatives in the Consell or the regional parliament.
As at the national level, Valencian people and socialists interpreted the king’s speech to suit their own interests. Felipe VI strongly defended the Constitution, placing the Magna Carta as an element of unity that guaranteed the unity of Spain, as well as its pluralism. Thus, while the PPCV yesterday focused on the monarch’s warning that “there is no democracy” outside the Constitution and was linked to the Government’s agreements with the independence movement and, in particular, the amnesty law, the part containing this warning in the PSPV was preserved. He called for the state’s “regional diversity to be respected.”
Generalitat president Carlos Mazón echoed the sentiments of popular Valencians in his speech on Sunday night, stating that the king was “flattered” and “right” in emphasizing the validity and importance of the Charter. Magna. In particular, he celebrated the “strength” of the monarch, stating that “outside the Constitution our strengths end and our weaknesses win.”
Consell’s president considered it “indispensable” to maintain the “spirit of 78”, which he understood today as “the greatest challenge” for “social progress”, as Felipe VI claimed. “He is also right to warn that there can be no democracy and coexistence outside the Constitution. “When our democratic regime, which is so young and at the same time so consolidated, is endangered by those who want to dismantle Spain, it is imperative that democrats join hands to defend what our ancestors fought for 45 years ago,” he said.
Going down to the parliamentary groups, PPCV Ombudsman Miguel Barrachina shares his leader’s reading and points out Chapter VI. He emphasized that Felipe’s defense that “there is no democracy without respect for the separation of powers and equality among Spaniards” was “vocal”. surrender”. Celebrating the monarch’s ability to justify the feelings of the “vast majority of Valencians” about the unity of Spain, the popular spokesman said: “Unity is always a strength and it is a serious mistake to support those who want to divide us”, as well as “respect for the separation of powers”.
His PSPV counterpart, José Muñoz, also applauds the king’s defense of the Constitution, but points to different reasons. According to the socialist ombudsman, Felipe VI’s speech calls for “the preservation of coexistence in Spain in the diversity of our cultures, languages and institutions.” According to Muñoz, these words are “a clear reference to the defense of the autonomous state” and, according to him, “threatened by the entry of the far right into autonomous governments.”
Criticism and silence
As always, the most critical was Compromís. His ombudsman in the Cortes, Joan Baldoví, assessed that Felipe VI’s words were “too far removed from people’s daily lives and problems”, including issues such as “housing, rising prices or job insecurity”.
Vox kept a very low profile. None of the party’s members in the Consell or its new ombudsman in the Cortes, José María Llanos, spoke. In response to questions from this newspaper, the party referred to the text message published on the party’s state account on social networks, in which only a textual part of the conversation was highlighted.
His deputy at the Congress of Valencia, Carlos Flores, expanded further and became President VI. He considered Felipe’s speech “flawless, unobjectionable and undeferred”. According to his reading, the king attacked “those who want to circumvent the constitutional framework”, “those who try to undermine the separation of powers” and those who are “ashamed to be Spanish”.