María Guardiola appeared at 11:44 p.m. in the Emerita Vetonia room of the AZZ Mérida Medea hotel. In his hands, the flag of Extremadura.
He posed with her before he began his speech to the media and did so again at the end, when he removed the lectern so photographers could capture the image. Around her, her husband, her son and several members of the party.
In the middle of the election analysis, she interrupted her speech to kiss her son, who, along with her husband, made a place among the supporters to be able to join her. A long silent embrace, covered with applause and cries of “President, president…! » of the more than 300 supporters who accompanied him.
Until that point, little was known about what happened at the hotel. The Popular Party had chosen to move away from its headquarters located in the center of Mérida due to the avalanche of accredited media.
Guardiola and his team stayed in a private room in the hotel, from which they did not emerge until after 11:30 p.m.
The first supporters began arriving at the hotel around 8:30 p.m. They came from neighboring towns and spoke optimistically about a possible absolute majority. As the count progressed, that optimism faded. The lobby was full, but the conversations revolved more around the PSOE’s results than theirs.
When the socialist Miguel Ángel Gallardo appeared on television next to the bar, there was silence. After his intervention, the comments came in hushed tones. Some expected his resignation. Others looked at their cell phones, waiting to contact deputy number 30, still insufficient for the absolute majority.
Guardiola’s appearance has been a long time coming. Outside, some local police said the cold was spoiling any celebration. Nothing to do with what happened two and a half years ago, when the victory was celebrated in the square in front of the party headquarters. This time the celebration would be interiorthey joked.
After Gallardo, the main protagonists of election night played cat and mouse. As if they were measuring their strength or the order they were prepared to issue, once the exam was over.
Around midnight, the election winner and popular candidate for re-election appeared. Then Vox’s candidate, Óscar Fernández Calle, did so, euphoric at the growth of his party.
Then, from Madrid, the general secretary of the PP, Miguel Tellado, to proclaim that the PSOE had suffered “a real beating“: “he plunged into what was one of his main electoral strongholds”, he confirmed. And finally, after midnight, the leader of Vox made an appearance, Santiago Abascal.
No “red lines”
The atmosphere in the popular headquarters changed as Guardiola descended the stairs to the lectern. He could barely speak more than a minute in his speech. It was interrupted by applause, shouts of “president” and a celebratory applause that ignited the supporters.
In his speech, he announced that he would begin a series of contacts this Monday with the parliamentary groups to form a new Council “as quickly as possible”. He called on the PSOE and Vox not to “block” governance and assured that he would negotiate withoutred lines“.
Then came the photo session with friends and colleagues. The half-smiles of a bittersweet victory seen in the hotel lobby between nine and eleven in the evening, transformed after listening to the popular leader, into gestures of optimism.
Calls to the various parties are now scheduled for this Monday. Of course, María Guardiola did not specify which one she was going to start with. As if, in the end, everything depended on a Lottery.
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