Contacts begin with Carlos Mazón before parliamentary groups take office as President of the Generalitat
He plans to reach out to the groups in sequence from strongest to weakest, with the final outreach aimed at his only potential ally, Vox. The PP secured a decisive victory in the latest elections, yet its 40 seats fall short of the 50 required to lead the Cortes without support. Public pressure on the PSOE to ease Mazón into the presidency without Vox has cooled much of the theatrics that would justify a deal with Santiago Abascal’s party. The Socialist camp will pay a political price for any capitulation, but they recognize that maintaining opposition in Parliament will not stop the PP from advancing with populist backing and they refuse to be cornered.
The decision to postpone the general elections to July 23 forces Mazón to push back any irreparable deal with the far right. The PP seeks to avoid formal agreements with Vox, which has become a central topic in this vigorous Valencian Community campaign. The June 26 legal deadline to form the Valencia Cortes marks the first milestone. From that moment, the calendar will start to reveal its true shape. The initial vote on investiture, requiring an absolute majority, could occur on the campaign’s final day, July 21. If the result is short, a second vote two days later would suffice to move forward, provided there is sufficient consensus.
He could run the first ballot without a Vox deal to protect the national campaign and only seal the alliance after the election, to be approved later by the Cortes. Yet this path seems unlikely. The PP questions not when to reach an agreement with Vox but when to sign it. Rumors circulate, though without conclusive evidence, that Mazón might enter the first ballot without Vox to safeguard the general election campaign and later formalize the alliance. The goal remains to secure Cortes approval after the vote.
Mazón has consistently argued for ruling alone, but the math does not support solo governance, and Vox continues to push a more expansive platform. Vox has grown modestly at best in the Valencian Community, yet it remains a force that cannot be ignored. In cities like Elche, the region’s third-largest, the PP needs Vox’s vote to win the mayoralty. In the Cortes, Mazón needs seats not only to be sworn in as president but to stabilize his government and ensure budget approvals. In the Valencian Community, bipartisan cooperation has faded. Moreover, the parties that once seemed poised for a surprise in 2015 are now absent, with neither Ciudadanos nor Podemos represented in this legislature.
With the autonomous assembly set to convene on June 26, the political puzzle in Valencia will start to take shape. The Cortes presidency, the second authority in the region, and five deputies will be elected. The arithmetic points to three seats for the PP and two for the PSOE, leaving Compromís and Vox with no chairs unless bargaining reallocates seats.
History nudges Mazón to concession. In 1995, Zaplana ceded leadership of the Cortes to Vicente González Lizondo, and in 2015 Ximo Puig handed it to Enric Morera during the Botànic negotiations that followed. It remains uncertain whether Mazón will grant the presidency to the Cortes before the 23J general election. Establishing a formal arrangement ahead of the campaign would create a precedent that could restrict choices once the elections are held. If there is no PP-Vox deal, Mazón could use the interim precedent to oversee the Cortes for a brief period before a formal agreement is sealed, if at all. The 2015 scenario saw Francesc Colomer preside for twenty days while negotiations continued, eventually yielding to Morera’s leadership and a reshuffle later on.
The far right will demand more than the Cortes presidency, seeking the vice presidency of the Council and other key departments
As history repeats itself in some aspects, the present conditions are different from those faced by Zaplana or Puig. Vox’s influence in the region positions it as a potential kingmaker, but its strategy is not purely regional. The national party landscape means a deal with Vox would carry broader implications than in earlier regional arrangements. Feijóo’s performance in the national elections could ease or complicate Mazón’s path, but Vox will not be a nonessential partner. Before the vote last Sunday, Vox highlighted its priority by presenting a single candidate as a focal point for opposition, while some concerns about Vox leaders with controversial records complicate the picture. The regional context adds another layer of difficulty, with Vox demanding not only the Cortes presidency but also constitutional council roles, board seats, and positions across regional institutions.
Negotiations are steering toward programmatic agreements, mirroring moves seen in Andalusia where a similar approach was tried. The risk that Vox could pull strings is real, and Mazón must navigate this carefully. The path ahead will depend on how both sides shape their demands and how the parliament evolves in the early stages of governance.
On the left, tensions rise within and between parties pursuing a common progressive front. Some still advocate a united line between PSOE and Compromís to push a fresh majority, as if four years could be condensed into a single moment. That view now seems increasingly distant. The regional scene has altered—what was once a unified left has splintered, and the narrative has shifted toward distinct strategies for navigating a shifting political landscape.
Socialists must clearly differentiate themselves to preserve influence in this new chapter
At the national level, the Socialist committee underscored that Ximo Puig will not cede any of his two seats on the PSOE’s Cortes table to Compromís. While that remains to be seen, the stance is emblematic of a broader push to maintain autonomy from coalition partners. The general election call may be seen as a sign that the left must reinforce its own platform rather than rely on past alignments. The political moment invites each actor to defend their gains and advance distinct agendas, particularly as the left faces a challenging political environment after a turbulent period. It remains to be seen whether the PSOE can reframe its strategy and restore cohesion under new electoral pressure, with Puig likely reassessing his approach as the process unfolds.