Hard-right party Vox has signalled it could support a new Andalucian government led by the Partido Popular’s Juanma Moreno without demanding cabinet positions.
However it would only do this provided it receives credible guarantees that any policy agreements reached with the PP will be implemented.
The possibility emerged as negotiations between the two parties got underway following the start of the new parliamentary term, which has already begun without an agreement on the composition of the Andalucian Parliament’s governing board.
Sources within Vox’s national leadership told EFE that the party is considering different options, including remaining outside government if sufficient assurances are provided by Moreno’s PP.
The move would mirror the situation in 2018, when Vox supported Moreno’s investiture without entering the regional government.
However, party sources stressed that Vox believes many of the commitments made at the time were never fully delivered, making guarantees a central issue in the current negotiations.
Talks between the two parties formally began on Tuesday in the Andalucian Parliament as they seek to reach an agreement on the formation of the next regional administration.
Vox insists that its priority is not necessarily obtaining ministerial posts, but securing concrete policy commitments, including measures linked to what the party calls ‘national priority’.
According to party sources, any potential agreement would need to include clear objectives, budget allocations and implementation deadlines, similar to coalition deals previously reached between the PP and Vox in regions such as Aragon, Extremadura and Castilla y Leon.
For now, however, relations remain unresolved.
Vox has been left without representation on the Parliament’s governing board after failing to reach an agreement with the PP before Thursday’s inaugural parliamentary session.
Despite the setback, party officials insist negotiations are still in their early stages and that both scenarios remain on the table: joining the government or supporting it from outside.
A similar situation unfolded in Aragon, where initial disagreements over parliamentary positions were later resolved as part of a broader deal that ultimately saw Vox enter the regional government.
The outcome of the Andalusian negotiations is expected to determine whether a comparable arrangement emerges in Spain’s most populous region.
What is Vox’s ‘national priority’ policy?
Vox’s ‘national priority’ policy is based on the idea that Spanish citizens should receive preference over foreigners when it comes to accessing certain public resources, benefits and opportunities.
The party argues that people who hold Spanish nationality should be first in line for areas such as social housing, welfare assistance and some publicly funded programmes.
Vox says this is a matter of fairness and believes public money should primarily benefit Spanish citizens before being extended to non-nationals.
The policy has become one of Vox’s key demands in negotiations with the PP in several regions. However, its implementation is often complicated by Spain’s constitution and European Union laws, which generally require equal treatment for legal residents and citizens of other EU member states.
As a result, when Vox has reached agreements with the PP in the past, the final measures have usually been more limited than the party’s original proposals.
They have tended to focus on areas where regional governments have greater control, such as criteria for allocating public housing or distributing certain grants and subsidies.
In the current negotiations in Andalucia, Vox has not yet publicly detailed exactly what measures it wants included under the banner of ‘national priority’.
However, based on previous agreements in regions such as Aragon, Extremadura and Castilla y Leon, the party is likely seeking commitments that would give Spanish citizens preferential access to some housing, welfare and family support programmes.
