the word berrocal This is very typical of Extremadura speech. So much so that Berrocal is a common surname in the area. Berrocales are fields filled with granite blocks, sometimes enormous, always very hard, called berrocales. In Extremadura, they abound. And in recent decades, the adjective that best described Extremadura’s vote for the PSOE was precisely this: berroqueño No more.
These regional elections lead to a certain uncertainty: in particular on the way of negotiating between PP and Vox. But they also provide a little clarity: in 2019, the PSOE could still obtain a granite majority in Extremadura. Six years of socialist government passed and the PSOE – with the exception of Catalonia – found itself without strongholds. Berroque Extremadura fell: where the left was stronger, the turn to the right was more brutal.
Pedro Sánchez considered these elections canceled a long time ago. He didn’t even like the candidate Miguel Ángel Gallardo. The goal was already as modest as preventing the drama from turning into tragedy. Almaraz, infrastructure, territorial policy, corruption and harassment: by regional or national key, it was not known to what extent the PSOE soil was going to be drilled. What contributes to breaking the record is the presence of an accused who, moreover, left his conviction for the annals of exemplarity. What would be the thing that Sánchez, now that Zapatero can no longer walk around, had to use during the campaign? In short, if the PSOE one day decides to nominate Ronald McDonald as a candidate, it already knows that it will not fall any lower. The only consolation: they thought it would be worse.
The defeat does not change anything in the president’s plans, which always involved letting the PP get burned in its relations with Vox: he does not have many alternatives either. But perhaps someone within the PSOE is wondering what will remain of the party if its project is limited to an agreement between PP and Vox in Extremadura, Aragon, Castile and León and Andalusia, so that Sánchez can then act as an anti-fascist barrier throughout Spain. In 2023 it worked, but the precedent for these Extremadurians is that then the votes do not follow.
For many years the headline that the PP governs in Extremadura seemed to be a mistake: now, in addition to governing, it will most likely repeat itself. But the illusion of an absolute majority backfired. The data will tell how much of this has to do with the final week of the campaign. The fact that PP candidates seek, during the elections, to dissociate themselves from the PP is also worth studying: Guardiola did not want any of his regional peers. He didn’t even coincide with Feijóo for the closing.
The call served to strengthen the right, but only one: Vox is taking off – even if it is far from being popular – and the PP is barely growing. The objective of these elections was to get rid of the yoke of Vox, and the PP did not succeed. With the result of the regional elections there are incentives: the PP sees a PSOE – and a Sánchez – diminished and punished. But there are other concerns: Extremadura was the most favorable land for the PP to distance itself from those of Abascal, which worries for the rest of the regional calls. Guardiola’s direct confrontation with Vox did not yield as expected. At the time of negotiations, the PP will have to deal with a Vox which feels very strong after its surge, and Vox may not be inclined to be generous with a leader who has long become its greatest antagonist. The question now remains whether Guardiola, who in 2023 showed, let’s say, intermittent principles with Vox, will accept in 2025 the membership contract that Abascal signed with Pérez Llorca in the Valencian Community. In short, Podemos has also grown, to honor what Extremaduras touch.
About The Author
