Elda mayor Rubén Alfaro is poised to coordinate Diana Morant’s campaign, emerging as the sole candidate to lead PSPV. This outcome follows an informal, discreet meeting in Valencia yesterday among Morant’s frontrunners, Carlos Fernández Bielsa and Alejandro Soler, who withdrew from the latest bid for general secretary. The discussion occurred at the PSOE headquarters in Ferraz on Tuesday.
The move matters because Alfaro stood alongside Soler at the outset of this internal process. It marks the initial step toward a broader reunification ahead of the extraordinary congress scheduled for Benicàssim (Castellón) on 22, 23, and 24 March.
Alfaro’s name had floated as a potential Organizing Secretary for Morant during the early negotiation phase between candidates. Once those talks faltered, the three formalized their candidacies. In those early days, Alfaro aligned with the Alicante provincial leadership, signaling his readiness to back the Elche-based initiative when he announced his intention to run for party leadership there.
Leading Alfaro’s campaign team signals a gesture toward the other primary contestants, the Alicante province’s organizational structure, and the capable, youthful but seasoned mayor who chairs the Valencian Federation. The Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FVMP) has long aligned with the autonomous left governance model under which these figures operate.
What stood out about yesterday’s gathering was not its formal outcomes but the manner in which it was conducted. The meeting occurred at an undisclosed Valencia location, with all three participants reportedly unaware of one another until roughly thirty minutes before their face-to-face. A specific rendezvous point was settled only upon the Madrid minister’s arrival. The choice to minimize media presence and external scrutiny served to focus the dialogue and keep it free from external pressure.
That session did not signify a major reshuffle of leadership roles, a point that had been touched upon during Tuesday’s wider Madrid discussion. Instead, it established a working framework for the weeks ahead, leading into the extraordinary congress and the formation of a campaign team.
Earlier, three socialist leaders reached a Madrid accord, mediated by the PSOE’s central authorities, agreeing that Valencia and Alicante provincial leaders would withdraw their candidacies and that the general secretary would align with Morant.
Yet the marathon nine-hour negotiation, conducted under the watch of the Organizing Secretary Santos Cerdán, stalled when finalizing the distribution of the remaining executive positions. At present, the only clear arrangement is that the PSPV Organizing Secretary will be chosen by the new leader, while the presidency and deputy general secretariat would go to Soler and Bielsa respectively.
The campaign emphasis, as stated yesterday, centers on listening to militant voices and presenting a united, coherent plan at the congress that reflects broad concerns. The post-meeting statement highlighted a strategy focused on intimate, person-to-person engagement. The minister projects a vigorous campaign, even in a context where the primaries lack direct opposition and Alfaro is positioned to succeed Ximo Puig.