Spanish conservatives label Socialists ‘scum’ over city hall deal

A political deal in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona involving Basque nationalists is having nationwide repercussions, with critics claiming it amounts to handing power to the heirs of terrorist group Eta.

The pro-independence coalition EH Bildu has called a no-confidence motion against the mayor of Pamplona, Cristina Ibarrola of the centre-right Union of the Navarrese People (UPN). Socialists have agreed to support the motion, ensuring that EH Bildu’s Joseba Asiron becomes the new mayor.

This would be a major political prize for the nationalists. Pamplona is the capital of Navarre, which borders the Basque region and is claimed by nationalists as part of the greater Basque homeland. However, EH Bildu is reviled by the right because it is seen as successor to the political wing of the Basque terrorist group Eta, which disbanded in 2018.

During a fierce session in the regional parliament this week, UPN’s Javier Esparza described the leadership of the Socialist Party as “scum” because of its willingness to support EH Bildu.

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“What you are doing would cause thousands of Navarrese to vomit every night,” he said, before he and his fellow deputies abandoned the chamber.

UPN is also angry because the Socialists had pledged during a local election campaign earlier this year not to help the nationalists take control of Pamplona city hall. If the Socialists were willing to back EH Bildu in other local governments, they could alter the political map in Navarre and the Basque Country.

The manoeuvre has also drawn a response from Madrid, where the right-wing opposition has cast it as part of a deal Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez made with Catalan and Basque nationalists to win an investiture vote last month.

The leader of the main opposition conservative Popular Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, described it as “a ski-mask” agreement, a reference to Eta terrorism.

He added: “We are seeing the moral standards of [The Socialists] and the price the prime minister has paid to remain as prime minister.”

Mr Núñez Feijóo plans to attend a demonstration in Pamplona on Sunday against the deal between EH Bildu and the Socialists.

However, Socialist Party spokesman Patxi López insisted the Pamplona agreement had nothing to do with Mr Sánchez’s investiture and that the UPN-led city hall had been “paralysed” and was “a local government incapable of reaching any kind of deal with anyone”. The administration has not been able to approve a new budget since 2021.

EH Bildu has rejected violence but critics say it has not gone far enough in explicitly addressing the actions of Eta, which killed 853 people during its four-decade campaign of violence, 27 of them in Pamplona. In 1998, Mr Asiron, who has had a previous spell as mayor, condemned the group’s murder of a Pamplona local councillor and his coalition has agreed to take steps to provide reparations to Eta victims in the city.

In May’s local elections, it transpired that EH Bildu had fielded 44 candidates with convictions for involvement in Eta when it was active. Seven of those were for violent crimes, including murder.

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