Pilar Bernabé formalizes her PSOE candidacy for the Mayoralty of València: "I will be the mayor of the 87 neighborhoods"

The Government delegate in the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabé, has officially announced this Monday her candidacy for the PSPV-PSOE for the Mayoralty of València for the municipal elections of May 2027. The socialist leader has been the only aspirant who has presented herself to the internal process, so she will head the list with the aim of recovering the City Council.

"I am going to be the mayor of all Valencians, of the 87 neighborhoods," Bernabé proclaimed at the PSPV headquarters. The candidate has placed attention to the neighborhoods as the core of her project and has committed to governing "without looking at the postal code".

Bernabé has defined València as her "personal and life project," the city where she has grown, worked, and lived. She has also announced a campaign focused on the daily problems of its residents. "I will talk about València, about what interests people," she assured after distancing herself from national controversies and references to New York that have appeared in the municipal debate.

Housing, tourism, and more green in the neighborhoods

Housing will occupy one of the first places in her program. Bernabé has promised to apply the state law in the Valencian capital and develop "brave policies" to remove tourist apartments from residential areas, where their proliferation competes with rentals intended for those who live in the city all year round.

The candidate also proposes implementing a tourist tax to "bring order to an out-of-control tourism" and allocate the income obtained to improve municipal services. The PSPV already defended this measure during its previous period in the local government, although it was then pending.

The second major axis will be València's adaptation to climate change. Bernabé proposes applying the so-called 3-30-300 rule, which aims for every resident to be able to see three trees from their home, for neighborhoods to achieve 30% green coverage, and for there to be a green space within 300 meters of each house.

"València needs trees, not two awnings", she stated in a direct criticism of the solutions installed by María José Catalá's municipal government to combat high temperatures in some squares. Her project also includes large infrastructures, public services, and measures aimed at caring for the physical and mental health of citizens.

Bernabé has included in her first agenda the recognition of the families of the 17 people who died in the València districts during the DANA of 2024. The candidate assured that she will meet with them and reproached Catalá for not having attended to them as mayor yet.

The electoral race against Catalá and Oltra

Bernabé's entry completes the main battle for the City Council. The current mayor, María José Catalá, will repeat as the Popular Party's candidate, while the former vice president of the Generalitat Mónica Oltra will lead Compromís' proposal. The far-right Vox still needs to confirm its head of list, although former Valencian vice president Vicente Barrera appears as the main option.

Bernabé intends to enter this dispute supported by her municipal experience and her management at the head of the Government Delegation, especially during the months following the DANA. The socialist has visited numerous affected municipalities and has maintained continuous dialogue with mayors, residents, and affected groups.

The candidate will continue as delegate "as long as she can" because she believes that the Government of Spain remains essential to promote projects such as the Mediterranean Corridor, the green corridor of the southern neighborhoods, or the response of the Military Emergency Unit to fires and catastrophes.

The general secretary of the PSPV-PSOE, Diana Morant, also presented Trini Amorós as a candidate in Alicante, Rafa Simó in Castellón, and Héctor Díez in Elche this Monday. "We have eight months left to recover what matters," Morant affirmed, officially opening the path to the 2027 municipal elections.