Vox in the Government of Aragon: a novelist lawyer and a farmer critical of the environmental agenda

The popular Jorge Azcón (right) greets the spokesman of Vox and already first vice president, Alejandro Nolasco, after being invested as president of Aragon during the second day of debate this Thursday, in Zaragoza.JAVIER BELVER (EFE)

The Aragonese can put a face from this Friday to the members of the first Executive coalition of PP and Vox in the history of the community, the result of the agreement between popular and ultras, which includes 80 measures. The new president of the autonomous government, the popular Jorge Azcón, has sought territorial balance by designating as heads of departments to Teruel and Huesca, the two least populated provinces of Aragon, which in several cases are also old acquaintances of regional politics. This Friday he signed the decrees of appointment for the 10 directors, who will take possession of their positions on Saturday morning.

Vox is represented by the leader of the party in the community, Alejandro Nolasco, who will be first vice president of the region and will also hold the portfolio of Territorial Development, Depopulation and Justice, and, for the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food, by the agrarian cooperative Ángel Samper. The PP stays with the rest of the ministries and the second vice presidency, which is associated with the associated department of Economy, Employment and Industry and the spokesperson of the Executive.

The new first vice-president of Aragon was born in Pamplona in 1991 but is based in Teruel. He is a lawyer and has practiced in his office in the city for more than six years, according to his profile on the official Vox website. Graduated in Law from the Complutense University of Madrid and in Philosophy from the UNED, he is pursuing a PhD in History from the University of San Pablo CEU. Nolasco joined Vox in January 2019 and a year later was elected as provincial president of the far-right party. Before coming to the Cortes as a deputy, he was a councilor of Vox in the City Council of Teruel. He has combined his work as a lawyer with participation in television programs and especially with writing: he is the author of nine books that he has for sale on his personal page, including History of a mediocre psychopath, "a review of today's society and a descent into the most primary and profound bowels of man", according to the summary of the book, Blood Sponges or And I Will Go.

Ángel Samper (Zaragoza, 63 years old), a veteran farmer and cooperative, will be the new Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, the other portfolio in the hands of Vox. Samper has been linked to the agricultural association ASAJA for years. In 2007, he was appointed secretary general of Huesca and in 2012, of all Aragon. On the organization's website, Samper, founder of an agricultural cooperative, has published articles critical of the progressive government's agenda and against environmental proclamations. On those responsible for the Draft Law on Protection and Rights of Animals, Samper said that "they teach that to understand and love animals you have to become one of them" and affirmed that these "cannot be subjects of law", an idea that has addressed in another text, in which he asked: "By law will they succeed in turning animals into humans and humans into beasts?" and contrasted the concept of "Emptied Spain" to what he defines as "Stained Spain", prey to the ideological framework imposed by "very powerful lobbies". Samper grieves in another of his texts of an "attack" directed towards the Rural Environment and its "customs, culture, history and roots", an idea that ends in another in which he mixes and caricatures environmental claims. "No to the climate we breathe in! (...) Do not burn the bushes! Do not store water! Do not illuminate the shop windows! Do not turn on the light! No to meat! No cow farts!" He also regrets what he calls "demolition of reservoirs", an airy hoax from Vox, which are actually disused weirs and other barriers removed from river currents.

Ángel Samper, new Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of Aragon.

However, the competences of Environment fall on another ministry, in this case of the PP, which will also deal with Tourism and will lead Manuel Blasco, ceramics entrepreneur born in 1960 in Teruel, well known in the least populated of the three Aragonese capitals because he was a councilor, deputy mayor and finally mayor on two occasions, from 1999 to 2003 and from 2010 to 2016. Blasco has also been present in national politics: he was a senator from 2004 to 2016, when he was elected deputy, and again from 2019 until his resignation to be invested counselor. The Aragonese Institute of Environmental Management (Inaga) and the Aragonese Water Institute (IAA) will depend on his department. Environmental authorizations depend on the first, reports the newspaper Heraldo, which points out that he will be responsible for a commission of inquiry into the premises of new facilities, to which the new Aragonese president has harshly alluded in his investiture speech.

Old acquaintances of the PP

The rest of the Executive will be composed of the second vice president, Mar Vaquero (San Sebastián, 1970), lawyer and master in International Cooperation and International Relations, who has been a regional deputy for the PP since 2011 and since 2022, spokesperson for the Popular Group in the Courts. Until two years ago she was secretary general of the Popular Party of Aragon.

The portfolio of Presidency, Interior and Culture will be occupied by the Teruel judge Tomasa Hernández. Roberto Bermúdez de Castro, appointed Minister of Finance and Public Administration, was born in Huesca in 1971; He has a degree in Business Administration and Management and was already a counselor, of the Presidency, Justice and Spokesman, in the Popular Executive from 2011 to 2015.

Octavio López, the new Minister of Development, Housing, Mobility and Logistics, was born in Zaragoza in 1962 and has studied Law. He served as head of Azcón's Cabinet during his time as mayor of the Aragonese capital, which ended after the elections of May 28, and has also been a popular senator, regional deputy and secretary general of the Aragonese PP between 2012 and 2017.

The new head of Health, José Luis Bancalero (Melilla, 1966) has worked as a specialist in clinical biochemistry and clinical researcher at the Miguel Servet Hospital in Zaragoza and has been a tutor for residents of the Aragonese Health System from 2019 to the present. The Minister of Social Welfare and Family, Carmen Susín (Huesca, 1975) has been a deputy in several legislatures and is Deputy Secretary of Economy and Finance of the regional PP, and that of Education, Science and Universities, Claudia Pérez (Zaragoza, 1969), is a doctor in Economics and professor of Applied Economics at the University of Zaragoza, where she has directed a master's degree in security and defense.

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