Spain: conservatives distance themselves from Vox

A no-confidence motion brought by the far-right Vox party against Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has failed in the Spanish parliament. In his speech, opposition leader Pablo Casado distanced himself with unprecedented clarity from Vox, the support of which has enabled his conservative Partido Popular (PP) to form a government in several regions of Spain. The country's media applaud Casado's move and discuss the reasons for it.

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El País (ES) /

Make the most of opportunity to end the blockade

Shortly after the PP leader's speech, the Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also made a conciliatory gesture by saying he will seek a consensus with the opposition on the controversial issue of new appointments to the Council of the Judiciary. El País hopes for an end to the blockade policy:

“The major step made in parliament must not be left at brilliant discourse: now the time has come to take action. The urgent measures needed to combat the pandemic, the strengthening of the institutions, the crucial dialogue on how to get out of the economic crisis, the adoption of the budget - these are the issues by which the scope of the PP turnaround will be measured. An opportunity is opening up and it is now up to the governing coalition to do its bit. A path to better policies has suddenly opened up. It should be explored with loyalty and determination. Spain needs this. Europe expects it.”

La Razón (ES) /

Anti-EU invective is unacceptable for the PP

It is precisely this attitude towards Brussels that distinguishes the Spanish conservatives from the far right, observes La Razón:

“With his speech, Pablo Casado has claimed the leadership of the centre-right, with a national, integrative, moderate and European discourse and with the aim of reaching out to broad sections of society that are fed up with the pathological ideological division. ... It may be that there are voters of the People's Party who find it difficult to understand the clear No to the motion for a vote of no confidence. But the fact is that with his overly radical speeches, which are unacceptable for a state-run party like the PP, and in particular his criticism of the European project, [Vox leader Santiago] Abascal made abstention very difficult.”