The far-right Vox again loses half of its councilors in Valencia after expelling Badenas and Herrero, who will continue to govern with María José Catalá

The far-right Vox has expelled Juanma Badenas and Cecilia Herrero, two of the four councilors with whom it entered the Valencia City Council in 2023. The Guarantees Committee has agreed to their departure from the party, which has been communicated to the General Secretariat of the Plenary. Both will become non-attached councilors, a change that the corporation will acknowledge this Friday, October 30.

The decision once again splits the far-right municipal group in half after the crisis starring the same councilors in 2025. Badenas and Herrero will retain their seats and, according to municipal sources cited by ‘ABC’, their powers in María José Catalá’s Government. The expulsion from the party thus leaves the far-right Vox with two representatives, while the other two will continue to be part of the Executive headed by the PP.

"By decision of the party, I have ceased to be a Vox militant," Badenas announced in a video shared on his social media. The former mayoral candidate and municipal spokesperson for the formation has defended that he will continue with his ideas "inside and outside of institutions." The confirmation of the expulsions has arrived without a detailed explanation of the reasons for this new decision.

María José Catalá retains the majority with the two expelled members

Arithmetic explains the continuity that the City Council defends. The PP has thirteen councilors and Vox will keep two, so both parties will add fifteen representatives in a thirty-three-member corporation. The votes of Badenas and Herrero allow reaching the seventeen for an absolute majority, compared to the sixteen gathered by Compromís and the PSOE.

The municipal government has informed the media that it guarantees the "continuity and stability" of its management. The first important vote will be this Friday, when the plenary session will address the initial approval of the 2027 budget. From the consistory, they assure that the accounts have the necessary support guaranteed.

The majority that arose from the agreement between PP and Vox will therefore also depend on two councilors whom the ultra leadership itself has expelled. Catalá will keep Badenas in charge of Heritage and Herrero in Patrimonial Responsibility, the delegations they assumed after the reorganization caused by their previous departure from the group.

Their status as non-attached members allows them to retain their seats and participate in votes. Nor does it imply the creation of a new municipal group. The Local Regime Bases Law limits their economic and political rights, which cannot exceed those they would have been entitled to if they had continued in their original group.

From the crisis over a contract to judicial cases

The conflict dates back to March 2025. The far-right Vox temporarily suspended Badenas's membership and opened an investigation into an allegedly irregular award by the municipal foundation València Activa, which he then chaired. The controversy erupted after the dissemination of recordings related to an advertising and event organization contract of nearly 129,000 euros. Badenas denied the irregularities and denounced a setup.

Herrero, who is his partner, then requested voluntary leave. He alleged "lack of support, disparagement, and mockery" within the party, in addition to alleged workplace and personal harassment by group advisors. In April 2025, both were readmitted and regained their membership in Vox. That return recomposed the municipal majority that now is once again divided between the PP, the ultra group, and the two non-attached members.

Herrero's trajectory is also marked by the case for his messages on social media. The Prosecutor's Office requests up to three years in prison for an alleged hate crime due to publications against migrants, the LGTBI community, and people with disabilities. The prosecution maintains that he repeatedly disseminated messages aimed at fostering rejection and hostility towards these groups. In January, when the request for a sentence became known, Compromís and the socialists demanded that Catalá dismiss Herrero. The mayor distanced herself from his publications but refused to remove him from the Executive and invoked the presumption of innocence. The case is pending trial.

Badenas, for his part, has a summons as an investigated party for January 14, 2027 for his entry into the headquarters of the Sindicat d’Estudiants, along with two advisors. The organization reported that they had accessed the premises, which are municipally owned, without permission. The councilor justified his actions as a verification of the use of the property from his responsibility in Heritage.

The court has opened proceedings to clarify what happened. The judicial investigation and the expulsion from Vox are distinct procedures. In the video with which he announced his departure from the party, Badenas presented the judicial actions for hate crimes as a persecution against his freedom of expression.

Both councilors were also questioned for their leisure trip to Morella in November 2024, while aid and recovery efforts continued after the DANA. Compromís and the PSOE then demanded that their municipal functions be withdrawn. Badenas and Herrero had responsibilities over services and contractors involved in the response to the flood damage.