The head of the PSPV list for Congress from Valencia for the general elections on November 29, Pilar Bernabé, has issued a warning to the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo: the cost of “protecting” the “former president” of the Generalitat Carlos Mazón since the dana of October 29, 2024, which caused 234 deaths, “he is going to pay for it at the ballot box” at the electoral event that will take place in a few weeks.
Bernabé made these statements to the media this Sunday in Chera (Valencia), during a visit to the town, following Feijóo’s interview in 'El País', where the popular leader said that the former Valencian leader “has stepped down as president of the Generalitat and they have left him alone managing the emergency.” “He has paid an important political price. And about the lists in the Valencian Community, we’ll talk about it,” he added in that conversation.
The socialist leader has lashed out at Feijóo for those words: “He said that Mazón has already paid enough, that he has already paid very dearly. And in addition, he opens the door for him to be able to get into the lists again. That is the Partido Popular, that is Alberto Núñez Feijóo. That is the people who protect those who should not be protected, those who should go away, those who have inflicted so much pain on the Valencians and the Valencian women.”
At the same time, she has extended her criticism to her “colleague” Santiago Abascal (Vox), after he said in another interview for Prensa Ibérica “that whatever the PP does with Mazón seems fine to him.” “Therefore, it’s the same thing, it’s the same thing. The same is, the same indecency is,” Bernabé has emphasized, who has predicted that the “very high” “price” to which Feijóo refers “he is going to pay for it at the ballot box” on November 29.
On the other hand, the PSPV candidate has also responded to the mayor of València and the PP’s head of list for Congress, María José Catalá, who pointed out this Saturday at an event in the Mercado de Colón in the Valencian capital, together with the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, that in the PSOE “they were going to run a fortified campaign and that they didn’t dare to go out on the street.”
Rejects the PP’s “story” and the “loutish phrases”
"Look where I am. Where I am today and where I am every day," Bernabé has replied from Chera, making it clear that he does not intend to "get into that story or into thug phrases" that, in his view, the PP does use. "It’s not worth it, among other things, because each person has to explain why they are running and what they are running for," he has said.
Along those lines, he has defended that in the PSOE "we explain wherever necessary why we are standing and for whom we are standing, which is for the majority of people." "And the PP does too," he has said, but in his opinion it does so to back Carlos Mazón.
Likewise, he has questioned the "complicity" of both Catalá and the first vice president of the Consell and now the PP candidate for the Senate, Susana Camarero, who was spokesperson for the Valencian Government during the dana. In his view, "they are two of Mazón’s main defenders, whom Feijóo has rewarded by placing them as heads of list for the Congress and the Senate."
Bernabé has regretted that "while the victims continue to wait for answers and responsibilities, the PP and Vox continue to protect Mazón and reward those who supported him. That is how they understand politics and their real lack of respect for the victims."
Recovery after the dana and Government investments
The socialist candidate took advantage of the day to go around the region of the Plana de Utiel-Requena, with stops in Utiel, Chera, and Venta del Moro, with the aim of checking on the ground the progress of the recovery in the areas hit by the dana and highlighting the investments driven by the Government of Spain.
Bernabé has asserted the commitment of the central Executive to reconstruction and has stressed that "more than eight out of every ten euros invested in the province of Valencia after the tragedy come from the Government of Pedro Sánchez."
During his visit to Chera, he has cited as an example the more than 11 million euros directed to this municipality, of which 5.5 million are earmarked for repairing municipal infrastructure and basic public spaces for the daily life of its neighbors and neighbors.
"We are talking about recovering spaces for living together, about giving back to boys and girls their play centre, about recovering a library, and about rebuilding the places where people meet, learn, and share their lives. These are investments that have names and surnames, that have a soul, and that think about people," he has detailed.
Bernabé has stressed that the reconstruction in the province of Valencia "shows that there are two very different ways of doing politics: that of those who dedicate themselves to protecting those responsible and that of those who work to recover the towns and give their neighbors hope back". "The Government of Pedro Sánchez has been and continues to be on the side of Valencians, with resources, investments, and solutions. Our priority is for the municipalities affected to recover their lives and be able to look to the future with hope", he has said.
In addition, he has warned that on November 29 "it will also be decided what model of country citizens want." Against this, he contrasted the reference to the Argentine president, "Against the chainsaw of --the Argentine president Javier-- Milei that the PP's leading figures, the Socialists, admire so much, we defend strong public services, the reconstruction of our towns, and a policy that is at the service of the vast majority, not a few," he has emphasized.
In his conclusion, he summarized the political clash: "That is the difference: while Feijóo and Abascal are still determined to save Mazón politically, the Socialist Government is determined to recover València. Some protect their own. We protect people".