Juanma Moreno faces the no from the far-right Vox to his investiture and warns of a possible repeat election on October 25

Juanma Moreno is not invested this Tuesday in the first vote. The far-right Vox has confirmed in the Andalusian Parliament that its 15 deputies will vote against the PP candidate, who has 53 seats, two less than the absolute majority. The outcome shifts all pressure to Thursday, when the investiture will be repeated 48 hours later and a simple majority will be enough for Moreno to begin his third term at the head of the Junta.

The acting Andalusian president has already set the political cost of the blockade. If there is no agreement in the next two months, Andalusia would have to return to the polls on October 25, a date that Moreno himself has put on the table to warn that the community could spend “half a year without a government.” His message has been insistent throughout the session: Andalusia needs an Executive as soon as possible to form teams, prepare the 2027 budgets and avoid an interim period that no one will be able to easily explain to Andalusians.

Vox, however, wanted to mark its territory. Manuel Gavira reproached the PP for having “delayed the only possible agreement” and made it clear that his party is not going to give away the investiture without a closed document, with measures, deadlines and guarantees of compliance. “We have not come here to put on a show,” he said from the rostrum, before insisting that Vox will vote yes when there is a pact that includes its conditions.

The "national priority" returns to the center

The most uncomfortable demand continues to be the so-called “national priority,” the framework with which the far-right Vox intends to condition public aid, housing, and social services. Gavira has once again defended, with a deeply xenophobic discourse, that public resources must prioritize “those from home” and has added other usual demands of Abascal’s party: an end to policies linked to “climate fanaticism,” deregulation, tax cuts, more land for housing, and measures against irregular immigration.

Moreno has avoided adopting that expression, but he has shifted the discourse towards some issues that concern Vox. He has defended "ordered, regulated, and integrated" immigration into the labor market, criticized the distribution of migrant minors promoted by the central government, and called for more resources against drug trafficking in Andalusia. He has also acknowledged that PP and Vox are different parties, with different visions, although destined to understand each other due to the arithmetic of May 17.

The acting president has thanked Vox for its willingness to dialogue and has promised "maximum effort" until Thursday. "We have to look for what adds up," he said in his reply to Gavira. In the Andalusian PP, they assume that there is no other realistic way to form a government, after PSOE, Por Andalucía, and Adelante Andalucía have ruled out facilitating the investiture.

The left presses for a possible pact with the far-right

The second day has also served to gauge the tone of the opposition. Antonio Maíllo, spokesperson for Por Andalucía, has accused Moreno of not talking about the "elephant in the room" and has asked him for transparency about what he is negotiating with Vox. The IU leader has described "national priority" as a "fascist, racist, and classist" idea and has criticized the PP candidate for seeking support from a party that, as he recalled, maintains positions against the LGTBI community.

José Ignacio García, spokesperson for Adelante Andalucía, has been even harsher. He has asked if Andalusia will have a vice president who denies gender violence, who does not attend 28F, or who considers trans children "sick." He has also tried to bring the debate to health, housing, and education, accusing Moreno of using the dispute with Vox to avoid the problems of the Andalusian Health Service, breast cancer screenings, and rental prices.

The PSOE has entered the session with María Jesús Montero at the helm. The Andalusian socialist leader has accused Moreno of turning the investiture into “a fraud” and of trying to blame the PSOE for his pact with Vox. “What has Moreno Bonilla come to Parliament for? To govern alone or in coalition with the far-right?” she launched. Montero has also attacked the moderate image of the Andalusian president, whom she has reproached for being more concerned about Vox “stealing his photo” than about explaining the real content of the negotiation.

The investiture is now in the hands of 48 hours of negotiation. The PP wants to close a sufficient agreement for Moreno to be invested on Thursday and Vox seeks to secure a written pact that resembles those signed in other communities. If it doesn't happen, a two-month countdown will begin before a possible repeat election.