Who’s who among the Alicante figures in the PSPV’s new Valencian Executive? In other words, which family ties bind each member of the team that Diana Morant has assembled to lead the Valencian federation. It’s clear that in politics alliances shift and ebb and flow, but a first pass suggests roughly half of the 19 Alicante affiliates in the Executive lean toward the provincial secretary, Alejandro Soler, while the other half belong to the group that has lately been labeled as the “ximismo,” now increasingly called the “dianismo.”
Two Alicante names stand out as the core of Morant’s circle. The first is Soler himself, president of the Executive, who initially seemed ready to push for the Secretary General post but ultimately yielded to Ferraz’s call. The other is Rubén Alfaro, mayor of Elda, who officially sits with Soler’s faction yet maintains a strong link to Morant, underscored by his appointment as spokesperson.
Following Soler’s camp are two of his influential figures in the Alicante Provincial Council, Vicente Arques and Isabel López, who respectively govern l’Alfàs del Pi and Xixona. This bloc also includes the municipal spokesperson in Torrevieja, Bárbara Soler, the Cortes deputy Ramón Abad, a trusted ally in Elche, the mayor of Novelda, Fran Martínez, who hails from the “ximismo,” María José Adsuar, who leads the “sanchistas” in Alicante, and Lorena Zamorano, the councilwoman in Alcoy.
The presence of the Alcoy councilwoman in Soler’s camp is among the most surprising moves, given that she is part of Toni Francés’s government in Alcoy and challenged him in recent primaries, aligning with the “ximista” circle. Also aligned with this faction are the municipal spokesperson in Orihuela, Carolina Gracia, Zulima Pérez, a former high official of the Botànic, the spokesperson in Benidorm, Cristina Escoda, who is connected to former minister Leire Pajín, the regional deputy José Chulvi, the Calpe native Carolina Devesa from Joves Socialistes, and former regional deputy Toñi Serna.
In the city of Alicante, the only group that presented two delegations had councilor in the Cortes José Díaz, aligned with Eva Montesinos and Ana Barceló, and therefore with Ximo Puig. Also hailing from the capital is Ángel Franco, whose inclusion in the Executive sparked the most discussion, and a closely linked figure, the MEP Domènec Ruiz Devesa.