Vox has decided not to present its own lists to the Senate in six provinces and to limit itself to a single candidate in another fourteen with the aim of stopping the pact sealed by PSOE, Frente Amplio, and the territorial left, according to the formation's communication. At the same time, the 'popular' have announced that they will not compete in three constituencies where they have not achieved representation in recent years.
In detail, Vox will not register its own candidacy in Las Palmas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Cádiz, Valencia, Castellón, and Balearic Islands, while it will opt for a single candidate in Sevilla, Huelva, Asturias, Badajoz, Álava, Navarra, Cáceres, Huesca, Zaragoza, Alicante, Granada, Cuenca, Pontevedra, and Jaén. In the remaining twenty-three provinces, Vox will maintain its usual participation in the Upper Chamber.
Both parties have held discreet conversations to articulate a joint strategy in the Senate that allows the 'popular' to maintain an absolute majority and approach three-fifths of the Chamber, a threshold that enables the appointment of pending members for renewal in institutions such as the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ).
Those of Santiago Abascal have emphasized that Vox and the PP "are very different political formations, with very different discourses," but "it is no secret" that they agree "on the need to expel Pedro Sánchez's criminal organization from the institutions."
The PP withdraws in Guipúzcoa, Girona, and Tarragona
On the part of the PP, its secretary general, Miguel Tellado, has defined this understanding as a "good news" and has celebrated the "understanding" for the configuration of the lists to the Senate from "generosity, broad-mindedness, and a sense of state."
"The understanding between the two parties aims to protect the center-right majority in the Senate against the walls and movements of the radical left to take it away," he emphasized at a press conference.
Tellado explained that, with this pact, the Popular Party and Vox assume that the Upper Chamber is "essential to advance in the national reconstruction process that Spain needs." In this framework, they have agreed that Vox will not present itself in six provinces (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Cádiz, Valencia, Castellón, and Balearic Islands).
In parallel, the PP renounces presenting lists in three provinces: Guipúzcoa, "where the PP has not achieved a senator for 26 years," as well as Girona and Tarragona, "provinces in which they have never obtained a seat in the Senate in democratic history."
A long week of reserved negotiation
PP and Vox had been considering formulas for more than a week to respond to the joint coalition candidacy for the Senate promoted by PSOE, Frente Amplio, and the territorial left, which seeks to prevent the division of the right block from facilitating a new absolute majority for the Popular Group. The entire negotiation process has developed with strong secrecy.
After the agreement of the left was made known, which registered their coalition at the last minute on October 16, the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, offered the PP to explore a similar formula to optimize the performance of their votes and contain the advance of the progressive block.
Shortly after, the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, confirmed that both formations were working on an understanding and warned that it would be "a mistake to facilitate control" of the Senate to "sanchismo," hinting at the possibility of resorting to the cession of senators by autonomous designation. On Friday, he confirmed that he had maintained contacts with Abascal on this issue and assured that, if Vox withdrew from certain provinces, the PP would reciprocate "that gesture."
Both organizations have recognized in recent days that one of their main objectives is to achieve a three-fifths majority in the Upper Chamber (161 seats), which would allow them to unblock the renewal of the Constitutional Court (with four pending members) and the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ). Therefore, control of the Senate has become one of the central axes of this electoral campaign.