There is no longer a Valencian party beyond the PP that escapes an internal tremor. It is not accidental that the presidents of the Generalitat and the Valencia Provincial Council, Carlos Mazón and Vicen Mompó, both affiliated with the PP, recently toasted to a status quo that they preferred to keep uncoordinated, and that moment passed with a sense of stability. Those involved say they feel comfortable. Power acts like a glue that holds party structures together. When power wears capital letters, it means directing institutions. It has been demonstrated that those who accept not to manage end up living with a constant sense of serving someone else who fills their pockets while they worry about visibility in an endless loop. Citation: Valencian political commentary, 2024.
After the internal clashes in Compromís, with the Initiative party showing vigor only if Sumar absorbed its inner command, and after the upheaval within the PSPV following Ximo Puig’s departure, the radical right now seems to have imported and sealed the purge that Madrid had already begun, stamping its own imprint on the Valencian scene. The speaker in the Cortes, the sole woman remaining in that role this legislature, is positioned to align someone else with Jorge Buxadé, Vox’s rising influence in Spain. José María Llanos has already thrown a few inflammatory taunts, denying gender violence and arguing that no one should speak normative Valencian, suggesting the path ahead may be rough. The fear inside the PP is that this could mark the start of a more uncomfortable stretch in Parliament. Citation: Valencian political commentary, 2024.
For the moment, Mazón is steering their first budget without stumbling, maintaining a clean slate with Vox as a partner. And the same goes for María José Catalá. The same dynamic will likely unfold in the Mompó council as well. Collaborations with the radical right give the PP a six-month window of calm, a dream for any political communications unit, while the public perception hints at minimal internal vitality. Even Puig did not find the organic veranda perfectly tidy during his governance; in 2017, during the first Botànic, he wrestled with a rival candidate closely connected to the party’s central apparatus. These observations underscore how alliances with the far right can bring temporary peace, but they also raise questions about the durability and health of party ecosystems over time. Citation: Valencian political commentary, 2024.
During this period of change, the PSPV reshaped its parliamentary leadership. Perhaps a coincidence, but early clashes involved a deputy speaker and Vice President Vicente Barrera, tied to Vox. It could be seen as a jolt that rattles nerves but also a signal that the party is willing to test its resilience in a difficult arena. It becomes clear that Vox can mobilize institutional leverage, yet the question remains whether the use of the Cortes tribune to confer a cultural censorship diploma on the head of Culture in the Consell was necessary or prudent. Barrera, for his part, should demonstrate more backbone and resist reducing political disagreement to personal quarrels. Does this episode yield any lasting value, or is it merely a few seconds of televised attention and a viral clip that fades? The broader risk is that politics aimed at exposing extremists ends up echoing the very populism it seeks to condemn. We are witnessing a drift toward viral politics and click-based governance within Parliament. Just yesterday there was another incident involving discarded paper rolls on the floor. In this race toward mass spectacle, one wonders whether there will eventually be MPs clashing on the floor. And perhaps, in the end, by confronting the ultras, the parties might discover that their own behavior sometimes mirrors the ultras they oppose. The lesson, then, is straightforward: maintain proper decorum and avoid turning governance into a circus. Citation: Valencian political commentary, 2024.