In the Congress of Deputies they call themselves “fascists”, “social communists”, “filoetarras” or “franquistas” but in Villabrágima (Valladolid) they shake hands.
An alliance between councilors from the PSOE and Vox has led to a motion of censure against the mayor, Noelia García (PP), who was close to the absolute majority in May.
The pact has caused the expulsion of the councilors by their parties and has plunged this municipality of just over 1,000 inhabitants into anger due to the movement between ideologically opposed forces but with their representatives united, according to critics, by the thirst for power.
This Wednesday the motion was voted to give control to Víctor Arce, now with Vox after being socialist mayor between 2007 and 2015. The commotion with the City Council has not prevented the consummation of the change and has consolidated a new era in the town: the of tense silences and discussions in bars.
The daily rhythms of towns like this show uniformity: hustle and bustle in the morning, a certain relaxation at vermouth time and absolute calm from lunchtime until late afternoon, when the after-dinner meal is sacred.
It is difficult to break these spirits even when the social peace of the municipality is broken by a political turn.
Raising the topic in bars entails some initial misgivings and, as the issue heats up, firm positions and reproaches emerge, among some outbursts, at the agreement between the former PSOE and the former Vox members.
“I neither puncture nor cut, I'm not interested either, I have a business and I don't want to make enemies,” begins a bar worker who asks not to identify either name or establishment.
The conversation flows and explanations soon arrive: in these towns everyone knows the political affinities of their neighbors and no one wants to identify themselves too much in case those misgivings mean losing clients.
The man takes off and from “garlic and water, as they say” he goes to “the new mayor is a chameleon, he has 12 jackets in the closet.”
The parishioners join the debate and one confesses that he voted for Vox, but he did not expect such a performance: “It's the world upside down.”
A man reads the newspaper in a bar in Villabrágima.Emilio Fraile
The opinion of the polls last May has mattered little.
79.29% of Villabrágima's electoral roll voted then and 47.69%, almost an absolute majority, supported Noelia García towards her third term, with more votes than in 2019 and four councilors.
The PSOE accumulated three thanks to 204 ballots (30.31%, less than in the previous appointment) and Vox achieved 138, far from the mayor and with two councilors.
On the other hand, the agreement with the socialists implies dividing the legislature and for Víctor Arce to begin before handing over the baton to his unexpected partner.
The councilor responds with a succinct “well, here we are” when asked about the situation.
“I sense a quite tense atmosphere, the people are very angry.
There is no strong reason, they have talked about discrepancies, but it is absurd, it is not fair, I have not done anything illegal or stolen,” argues García, facing Villabrágima since 2015 and well valued both in the elections and when asking on the street.
“The lust for power, selfishness, ambition and greed conquer everything,” laments someone who from the first day smelled the opposition's tricks.
Already on May 28, he suspected that they might try something, although “people inside” prevented the union of PSOE and Vox.
Main street of Villabrágima.Emilio Fraile
The months progressed and the pressures grew, as the new coalition cited disagreements with the construction of a new nursing home to torpedo the council action.
First there were demonstrations and then resignations on the PSOE lists, until number 9 on the list entered and the motion was forged: “There are people from the PSOE and Vox who tell you that they have played with their vote and are defrauding them, they feel scammed.”
On the balconies there are banners of “Yes to the residence”, therefore, I support Noelia García as a supporter of the initiative.
The new mayor, Víctor Arce, celebrates that “everything has gone very well” and denies the “20 PP fans” who have protested against him.
“They have managed to get the neighbors to confront us, they have been fighting us for a year being arrogant, they did not believe the motion,” he adds.
His partner, the former socialist Eduardo Sahagún, assures that “there are many half-truths” and affirms that his purpose is to “add and not subtract.”
“Three months ago I reported the mayor's husband for trying to attack me in my workplace,” says Sahagún, “with a clear conscience” and a nuance about so many recent comments: “You can hear whoever is speaking, many people privately support us.” ”.
The now former mayor adds the economic key.
The growing wind farms in these parts of the Montes Torozos brought 1.3 million euros to the City Council and the imminent construction of more mills will bring more resources, a greedy incentive to launch into the political adventure.
The streets credit the victory of the PP, with an absolute majority among those willing to speak.
Modesto Careñosa, 70, calls what happened a “strange pact”: “I am from the PP, but I would feel bad about any party, it is an injustice.”
Alberto, 53, declines to give his last name because he runs a business and fears that ideological philias and phobias will have an impact when checking out.
“What the new mayor wants is revenge, we are all at odds and sparks fly, in the bars you know who is who,” says the man from Villabrigi, annoyed with the climate spread throughout a town not given to parliamentary confrontation.
Modesto Careñosa in Villabrágima, Valladolid.Emilio Fraile
A woman walking through the town seems very angry with the motion, not in vain is she the mother of the political victim.
María José González, 69, denies the former socialist mayor, then Vox and today not a member: “And now which party will he be in?”
The new local government team will be made up of five independent councilors, all repudiated by their formations.
The woman will attend a rally called to denounce the motion of censure: “Tempers are very heated, I will go to stop the husband for a bit.”
Finally, except for boos, everything has been signed.
The final vote was held in the cultural center, as the town hall is, literally and metaphorically, undergoing renovations.