The Andalusian Popular Party (PP) has started a counterattack to counteract the pressures from Vox, after their statement that negotiations are “going well” for the incorporation of their councilors into the City Council of Seville, where the popular José Luis Sanz governs with a minority. They argue that both the party of Santiago Abascal and the PSOE are forming a “pincer movement” to block the government in the Andalusian capital. Sanz has announced that he will present the municipal budget for 2024 in an extraordinary session in the first week of June, in an attempt to highlight the sense of the votes of these two formations. If both opposed, the mayor would have to face a vote of confidence that would lead to the automatic approval of the local budget, as long as the far-right party voted yes or abstained. Otherwise, a one-month period would open to present a motion of no confidence. If neither the PSOE nor Vox ran for the position, the budget would also pass immediately. This strategy mirrors that of the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, and his predecessor, Ada Colau.
The President of the Junta, Juan Manuel Moreno, has also insisted on the existence of this connivance during a government control session in the Andalusian Parliament. He argued that there is a pincer movement between the PSOE and Vox to block the city of Seville, as neither are willing to abstain to allow the city’s projects to move forward. Moreno expressed surprise at the PSOE’s position, accusing them of being in cahoots with Vox, even though the PP had previously helped Juan Espadas, the former mayor of Seville, to pass the city’s budgets. This strategy of invoking the pincer movement between the PSOE and Vox to blame them for systematically blocking the PP’s policies is not new, as Moreno had previously used it to justify the early elections in the region.
The PSOE in Seville is reluctant to engage in the game of the pincer movement proposed by the PP, and their municipal spokesperson, former mayor Antonio Muñoz, has offered to negotiate their proposal for the 2024 budgets. Muñoz highlighted the lack of response from Sanz to their proposal sent three months ago, emphasizing that the mayor has shown clear incapacity for negotiation. The PSOE is unwilling to enter into negotiations with Vox, and Muñoz hinted that they would also send their proposal to the PP’s national leadership. He urged Sanz to avoid the bad news of having the far-right entering the municipal government and emphasized the mayor’s responsibility to reach agreements.
In Seville’s City Council, thanks in part to the PSOE’s abstention, the PP has managed to approve significant projects, particularly in fiscal and urban planning matters. Despite claims of potential paralysis in the city government, Sanz has been moving forward with many essential issues. The mayor has stated that he will not form a pact with Vox and intends to continue governing alone; however, the extension of the 2023 budgets due to the inability to secure support from other parties has shown that the Almeida route, followed by the mayor of Madrid who extended budgets in his previous term due to Vox’s opposition, may not be practical in Seville. Political tensions continue to rise as negotiations and power dynamics play out in Seville’s political landscape.
