The national leadership of Vox has carried out its threat to break the agreement with the Partido Popular for government in the Balearics. On Thursday, the party's president, Santiago Abascal, announced the total breakdown of agreements with the PP in the Balearics and in other regions where the two parties have pacts.
The threat concerned the Spanish government's desire for regions to take unaccompanied migrant minors who are currently in the Canary Islands. An estimated 6,000 minors have placed enormous strains on administrations in the Canaries, and so the government is seeking to ease the load by distributing them elsewhere. The Balearics will take a total of ten; this is the reason why Vox have broken the pact.
Abascal blames the PP's national leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, for having forced PP regional presidents to accept this distribution.
Vox in the Balearic parliament will now join the opposition. This leaves President Marga Prohens without the necessary support for the legislative programme. Vox haven't been part of the government but their agreements with the PP following the elections in May 2023 have allowed the PP to govern in minority.
The parliament's maths are these: There are 59 deputies, meaning that 30 is a majority. With Vox joining the opposition, Prohens can count on only 27. Of these, 25 are PP deputies. There are two others - Llorenç Córdoba of Sa Unió de Formentera and Xisco Cardona, who quit as a Vox deputy in October and became unaccredited.
However, all may not be lost for Prohens, and this is because of Vox internal differences. There are three deputies who form the so-called critics, those who have not accepted orders from Abascal and the national leadership. One of the three, Sergio Rodríguez, said on Thursday that they will wait to see what happens.
Prohens, who had been hopeful that Vox wouldn't withdraw their support, insisted that no agreement with Vox had been broken. There is nothing in the accord for government regarding migrant minors.
"There is no point that refers to unaccompanied minors; there are some on the fight against mafias, the installation of new radars and the control of illegal immigration within the scope of our powers," she stated.
It is believed that PP-Vox arrangements at the Council of Mallorca and Palma town hall will be unaffected, although there is not as yet total certainty that this will be the case.