In Alicante this Tuesday, the first deputy president of the Valencian Government and the regional Ministry of Culture and Sport, Vicente Barrera, affiliated with Vox, makes his debut not to discuss his official portfolios but to meet with residents in the northern area of the city. He will be accompanied by Elisa Núñez, the Minister of Justice and Interior. The party’s briefing to the media for this gathering laid out, without ambiguity, the issues for discussion: uncontrolled illegal immigration, public safety concerns, crime, and illegal occupancy of properties. Vox has a clear message and a set of topics it plans to emphasize in hopes of attracting voters.
Both Barrera and Núñez will sit down with representatives from Alicante’s District 2 Board to address presumed safety problems. Attending the meeting will be Francisco Camacho, the district board president, Celia Campelo, the head of the Juan XXIII neighborhood residents association, and leaders from a further dozen neighborhood associations in District 2. Vox delegates in the Valencia regional government will outline the safety concerns affecting the Colonia Requena and Juan XXIII neighborhoods. After the meeting, a tour of the Juan XXIII district is planned.
During the walk, neighborhood representatives are expected to speak, providing a first-hand account of the situation in Alicante’s neighborhoods. Barrera and Núñez will be accompanied by a sizeable portion of the government’s second-tier leadership, with three regional secretaries anticipated to attend, all members of Vox. They are Eduardo Ruiz, the Secretary of Justice; Javier Bazán, responsible for Victims and Access to Justice; and Javier Montero, overseeing Security and Emergencies. Also slated to attend are the four Vox city councilors in Alicante, Carmen Robledillo, Mario Ortolá, Óscar Castillo, and Juan Utrera, along with Ana Vega, former spokesperson for Vox in the Valencian Parliament who now serves as deputy speaker for the Vox group in the regional assembly.
Colectivo LGTBI
The appearance of Barrera for talks about occupancy and crime in the northern Alicante area comes after Vox pushed the city’s mayor, Luis Barcala, to concede to creating an anti-occupancy office as part of a municipal budget package. According to deputy mayor Manuel Villar, Vox’s measures included the creation of a second office aimed at assisting pregnant women facing economic or social challenges, and these proposals were said to improve the draft budget put forward by the Popular Party.
Recently, both the Popular Party and Vox members have clashed on issues such as safety and occupancy. In fact, the PP has introduced in the Senate a proposal to crack down on illegal occupancy, proposing fast-track expulsions within 24 hours, blocking registrations for occupied homes, and swift court proceedings. Valencian data from 2021 show a notable number of occupancy cases, and the PP aims to reduce Vox’s electoral space with these measures.