The mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá, defended this Monday her decision to head the PP list for Congress without leaving the City Council. "When in doubt, Valencia will always come first," she promised when asked how she would organize her responsibilities. Her candidacy opens a question that the party will have to resolve through an exception to its own rules, which make it incompatible to be a national deputy and mayor of a municipality with more than 20,000 inhabitants.
Catalá has put Alberto Núñez Feijóo's electoral objective first. Asked if she would leave her seat as a deputy in Les Corts to assume that of Congress, she replied "the idea is to win the elections". Nor did she specify what she would do if Feijóo reached Moncloa and offered her a ministry. In that case, she again assured that Valencia would be her priority.
The statements were made after the opening of the 'IV Forum of Future Cities Levante-EMV', where she presented the general elections of November 29 as a "decisive moment for Spain". "There is a lot at stake," she repeated, linking Saturday's disturbances in Barcelona with her message about coexistence, security and the credibility of institutions.
The mayor argued that she had to assume her responsibility to contribute to the change of Government. She asked to talk again about economy, housing, mobility and infrastructure and "stop talking about jewels" and corruption, in a speech focused on her criticisms of Pedro Sánchez's Executive.
The exception that the PP needs
The popular statutes establish in their article 12.1.c that being a deputy in Congress is incompatible with the Mayoralty of a city of more than 20,000 inhabitants. The rule affects Catalá and also Xavier García Albiol, mayor of Badalona and head of the PP list for Barcelona. Electoral legislation allows both responsibilities to be held simultaneously; the party imposed an additional limit on its positions.
The article itself contemplates a way out. The National Executive Committee can authorize exceptions in extraordinary cases, attending to the general interests of the party. This authorization is the foreseen way for Catalá to retain the Mayoralty if she obtains and assumes the seat. Running for elections and then exercising both positions are different moments.
Instead, her autonomous act would have to be left if she joins Congress. Article 67.1 of the Constitution prevents accumulating seats from an autonomous assembly and the Lower House. This incompatibility falls outside the exceptions that the PP leadership may approve.
Catalá has appealed to her experience to defend that she can handle several responsibilities. She recalled her time as mayor of Torrent, when she was also a national deputy. The Congress registry specifies that precedent. She acquired full deputy status on April 1, 2008, and resigned on October 6 of the same year, after six months in the Chamber.
The struggle with Bernabé before the municipal elections
Catalá's candidacy brings the political competition for Valencia to Congress. Facing her will be Pilar Bernabé, head of the socialist list for the province and candidate for Mayor in 2027. The general elections will allow both to gain presence before the municipal elections, although these are elections with a different territorial scope and voting behavior.
The move also comes after the PP questioned Bernabé's jump to Madrid. The popular spokesperson in Les Corts, Nando Pastor, had criticized her for accepting to head the list for Congress after being designated municipal candidate. "It's not compatible, it's not serious," he maintained. Now his party presents the acting mayor to lead the same candidacy for Valencia.
Catalá celebrated that the first vice president of the Valencian Government, Susana Camarero, heads the list for the Senate for the province. She assured that she is "very happy" to share the campaign with her and defined her as "a great friend" and "a born politician."
She also highlighted the presence of the mayor of Utiel, Ricardo Gabaldón, in her candidacy for Congress. "I believe I couldn't be better accompanied," she stated, before expressing her satisfaction that citizens from different municipalities are represented on the list.
