PP refuses to accept reality of having to govern with Vox

The Popular Party tried to keep moving forward on Monday with the version of events it had thought would happen before it called the regional elections: governing by itself in Castilla y León. Vox and the PSOE should abstain to allow that to happen. Both Vox and the PSOE rejected that path outright this morning. Vox wants their man, García-Gallardo, to become the Deputy First Minister and for their election manifesto and ideology to be taken into account. The socialists want to watch the fun on the right.

In several media interviews, PP secretary general Teodoro García Egea found it difficult to accept the reality that the PP has not won enough seats to govern alone, to execute that grand vision they had outlined for themselves a few weeks ago. They are going to have to depend on one or the other.

“If someone wanted the Popular Party to govern alone", said García-Gallardo (Vox): "they should have voted for the Popular Party [...] I'm not going to gift my votes to anyone”. And a few minutes later, in case anyone had missed it, he added: “They should lose all hope of us just giving them our votes. We are not going to facilitate their government in exchange for anything. That has to be clear”. PSOE federal executive committee spokesman Felipe Sicilia said what was happening to the PP was the PP's fault: “Mr. Casado's failure is now being exploited in this case by Vox”, and that "we are not going to support a government stained by corruption".

Vox is making it easy for the PP, as long as they want to govern with Vox. That is the option. Despite the rhetorical energy the socialists have used up over the past few years warning about the threat from "the far right" in Spain, now they have the chance to stop Abascal's party from entering government for the first time, with an abstention or some other form of support for Mañueco (PP), they will not do so. Or that is what they are saying this first day after the elections. Will parties maintain these initial positions as the weeks tick by, up to the point of new elections being called?

“Andalusia government slows down Vox rush and puts early regional elections off to the end of the year”, reads the headline in Diario Sur tonight. The PP leader there, Moreno, does not want to become the PP leader in Castilla y León (Mañueco).

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