The first time Vox achieved parliamentary representation in Spain was in Andalusia, at the end of 2018, with 12 seats. In the last elections last May, it gained three more, but the difference is that it is no longer in the opposition benches but in the Government benches after making a pact with Juan Manuel Moreno’s PP. From that position of power, Vox deputies feel stronger and emboldened.
Read more An inmate of the Tarragona prison convicted of murder escapes during a scheduled outing
The second vice president of the Executive, Manuel Gavira (Vox), called the socialists “pimps” during the debate on an initiative presented by the PSOE about assistance to women victims of gender violence. Later, a far-right deputy demanded that their PP partners “have the courage” to move from words to actions and support the activation of article 102 of the Constitution to charge the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, with “treason.” This route is currently closed in Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s PP.
This same deputy, María Goretti Eiberle Sánchez de Toca, was scandalized that the Government bought “new mattresses” for the bunk beds used by immigrants in the tents installed in Ceuta. “If that is not treason, let God come and see it,” she said. She also attacked the NGOs that assist immigrants in the autonomous city and read the entire argument of Santiago Abascal’s party, culminating with the statement that “the Andalusian left belongs to Sánchez’s mafia.”
Opposite Vox is the left, but since signing the coalition agreement, the PP no longer adds nuances, buts, or howevers regarding irregular immigration. It was very harsh on the central Government’s management in Ceuta after the massive entry of 80,000 immigrants on July 30 and 31, but it will be very difficult to hear again the Andalusian president, Juan Manuel Moreno, say that “he will not participate in the immigrant hunt” and accuse Vox of saying “wild things” as he did in the previous legislature. And if Moreno does not say it, neither do any of his people.
The plenary debated a non-legislative proposal from Vox defending the territorial integrity and Spanish sovereignty of Ceuta. The initiative arrived truncated at the plenary because PSOE, Adelante Andalucía, and Por Andalucía have a blocking minority to prevent the debate of proposals that manifest a declaration of exclusive State competencies. Vox saved five of its 10 points, but all those of the PP were rejected.
The use of this regulatory trick did not prevent the debate, but it did prevent all the proposals from Vox and PP from being voted on. The popular spokesperson, Toni Martín, focused his intervention on this “anti-democratic” fact, calling it a “political shamelessness” that the Parliament is “gagged.” He accused the left of following the instructions “of the fucking boss.”
With the votes of PP and Vox, the Parliament reaffirmed the “full and indisputable Spanish sovereignty” of Ceuta and Melilla and other places in North Africa and rejected Morocco’s claims over cities it considers “occupied territories.”
The left bloc voted against, after a discussion about whether to request separate voting on some points, such as the Spanishness of Ceuta and Melilla. The argument of the spokesperson of Por Andalucía and federal coordinator of IU, Antonio Maíllo, prevailed, that in the face of Vox’s “infamous” position, no nuances are allowed. PSOE, Adelante, and Por Andalucía take for granted that citizens know they defend the Spanishness of Ceuta and that no one will accuse them otherwise.
Read more The Spanish Super Cup will be held for the first time in Istanbul in 2027
As soon as he took the podium, Maíllo provoked Vox’s protest by saying that the surname Eiberle of their deputy is originally from Bavaria. In this German state was Hitler’s holiday residence.
Maíllo reproached Vox for not mentioning the 142 deaths in the Ceuta crisis, accused them of being “tin-chest patriots,” of having no “compassion or humanity,” of “hypocrisy” for “boycotting” the transfer of minors to the Peninsula as offered by the Minister of Childhood, Sira Riego, on August 8. No criticism of the central Government’s management and yes of the Moroccan “for its criminal responsibility.”
Mario Jiménez also criticized Vox for silencing the deaths at the border, a party he accused of having “the same moral principles as a pack of hyenas.” In his opinion, the right takes advantage of “a unique and very complex incident to “poison” the citizens. “They are playing so that the situation is not resolved,” he concluded.
In the same line of reproach to Vox and PP, the spokesperson of Adelante, Inmaculada Manzano, warned about the situation of minors and questioned the central Government – “Ceuta cannot continue abandoned, it is the responsibility of the State shared with the autonomous communities” – and called for “maximum firmness against the Moroccan regime.”
No ministers
No member of Moreno’s Government followed this debate, whose voting was repeated three times due to deputies’ confusion with the new electronic system. The only one who occupied his seat was Vox’s vice president, Manuel Gavira. Hours earlier, he had a clash with the socialist group following an interpellation about assistance to women victims of gender violence. This competence remains in Justice, which is one of the ministries directed by the far-right party.
“It is an aberration to cede the competencies of assistance and judicial protection of victims of gender violence to Vox,” said PSOE spokesperson Olga Manzano. Gavira assured several times that his group does not deny machista violence and asked the groups for a waiting time to question their management. “No woman in Andalusia who is a victim of violence will lose assistance, protection, legal defense, or judicial response,” he promised. From there, he attacked the PSOE. “You are the pimps, you are the ones who put rapists on the street, and you are the ones who justify an invasion, that of Ceuta, which has one rape per day and about which you say nothing,” said Moreno’s second vice president. Earlier, Manzano called Vox members “racists and sexists.” These words were removed from the session diary by the Parliament president, Ana Mestre, although Vox did not take offense nor protest.
Mestre also urged socialist Mario Jiménez not to use the expression “they have no shame” directed at the right, but did not ask the same of the popular Toni Martín when he accused the left of “political shamelessness” and of following the orders of the “fucking boss.” PSOE filed a formal complaint to Mestre demanding impartiality.
Read more President Lula increases Bolsa Familia by 15%, aid to the poor, at the doorstep of the elections