The opening phase of the new parliamentary session is approaching, and the initial results from the first session of 2022 show that 32 Valencian representatives in Congress recorded 6,139 parliamentary initiatives. These included oral and written questions, requests for reports, and appearances.
Official data from the Lower House on the activities of deputies from Alicante, Castellón, and Valencia reveals that more than 5,000 of the 6,139 initiatives were written questions to the Government, to be answered within a maximum of 40 days. Most questions are often filed jointly by deputies from the same organization but representing different provinces.
Thus, despite the high volume of questions raised by Valencian MPs, the Valencian Community is not consistently at the center of attention in parliamentary discourse, with notable exceptions. The bulk of initiatives recorded by Compromís focus on specific issues within Valencian territory. The content diverges significantly from inquiries raised by Vox MPs, making it rare to find direct references to the Valencian Community. Consequently, the signature of a local deputy does not automatically imply that the subject will impact the Community in a meaningful way.
The far-right party stands out as the most active formation. Its seven representatives submitted 4,273 questions and requested 91 reports between January and July of the year, reflecting the activity of the first session.
The People’s Party follows with 1,445 total initiatives, including 1,414 questions in the foreground. The main opposition party also requested the contents of 23 reports during this session. There is a wider gap with government-aligned parties. Since January, PSPV’s Valencia MPs recorded two oral questions and 115 written questions. United We Can contributed 56 initiatives in total, with 13 notable report requests among them.
Admin Control
One core aim of parliamentary initiatives is to monitor government performance. Parties in the Executive, even with more representation and media presence, often present fewer data points in parliamentary initiatives than others. For instance, in the first session of 2017 under Mariano Rajoy, the popular party’s MP Belén Hoyo registered only three questions. Today, as the party sits in opposition, the same figure climbs to 366 within the same timeframe.
Conversely, socialist MP Ana Botella submitted 159 written questions between January and July 2017. Botella, who now chairs the Education and Vocational Training Commission, has logged 15 questions since January in the current context.
With only two Valencian representatives in the chamber, Ciudadanos approaches a hundred startups registered in recent months. In Compromís, its sole assistant, Joan Baldoví, submitted two oral questions, 62 written questions, and requested six reports. Generally, less represented parties face reduced influence, largely due to fewer tools and resources compared with larger groups.
Individually, the podium for the most active parliamentarians is well and truly dominated by Vox: Eduardo Luis Ruiz, an Alicante deputy, with 1,105 registered initiatives; Valencia MP Cristina Alicia Esteban with 926; and Ignacio Gil Lázaro again with 756 for Valencia.
At the bottom of the table, socialist and former minister José Luis Ábalos has not opened any initiative so far this year. He is joined by party members Yolanda Seva and Josefa Andrés, each recording a single question in turn.
Most-speaking deputies in parliament
Less represented parties tend to have reduced influence in Congress, largely because they lack the tools and resources of the larger blocs. Recording parliamentary initiatives serves as a useful index for comparing activity levels among MPs, but it is not the only measure.
Over the same January-to-July window, María Muñoz, head of the Valencian Citizens list, intervened 151 times. That nearly matches the total number of interventions by seven VOX MPs for the Valencian Community, who together spoke 160 times in that period. Baldoví also surpassed the century mark, ranking well above Ábalos, whose only intervention this year occurred in March.
Hoyo, the popular MP who posted the most questions, appeared only 17 times. In United We Can, however, the opposite occurs: Alicante’s representative, Txema Guijarro, presented eight initiatives from January to July but spoke 60 times in the same period, making him the most active member of his group.