After the failed attempt to achieve the investiture of the Popular Party candidate in Extremadura, María Guardiola, after the regional elections on December 21 due to the refusal of Vox in the key votes, the former president of the region, Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra, raised the possibility of allowing the most voted list to govern. However, her PSOE colleague and candidate for the Extremadura Assembly, Piedad Álvarez, has stated that it is not appropriate to discuss a possible reform of the Statute of Autonomy. Likewise, she has thrown in his face his agreements with the ultras of Santiago Abascal and has asked him: “Are you willing to deny gender violence?”
In this regard, at a press conference this Monday, it has been considered that it must be Guardiola who has to respond about the current blockade and seek a “solution” to the situation. Thus, she has expressed her opinion on Ibarra's proposal and has lashed out at Guardiola. “It is not the time to open that debate -that the most voted list governs- because here there is only one person causing and guilty of the blockade in which we are living”, she has declared.
The PSOE candidate has continued to throw in the face of the ‘popular’ that she cannot ask for “reflection” or “responsibility,” when it was she who provoked the early elections. Furthermore, she recalled that they “reached an agreement for there to be a budget and stability in Extremadura.”
Regarding the negotiations with the far-right party, Vox, and the Popular Party, Álvarez has stated that Guardiola has “failed” and has reiterated that the blockade is lasting quite a long time, asking “until when” and “how much it will cost the people of Extremadura” the agreement with Vox.
Likewise, he/she has concluded: “Will Ms. Guardiola again renounce her principles and is she willing to deny sexist violence?”.
The different opinions of Guardiola on Vox
Constant have been the swings and discrepancies of María Guardiola with those of Abascal. In this regard, on June 20, 2023, she made clear her position on Vox's entry into regional governments: “I cannot allow those who deny gender violence into government (…) those who are dehumanizing immigrants.” Her firmness on social issues has since marked her relationship Santiago Abascal, showing a line totally separate from the far-right policies of Vox.
In December 2025, he/she followed this ideological line and again criticized Vox and its leader, calling the “machist stench” of Abascal. “I don't pass through the hoop of what Mr. Abascal wants, who does not know Extremadura,” he/she stated in turn.
He repeated similar statements in February 2026 alleging that the Popular Party had obtained 43% of the votes, making it unnecessary "to cross-dress" as Vox. And he culminated his wavering by maintaining that his “only intention is to reach an agreement” with the far-right.
