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Marta Fernández, deputy in Aragón for the Vox party, has been elected as speaker of the autonomous community parliament, the Cortes de Aragón, thanks to the far-right party's agreement with the conservative People's Party (PP), a deal centred on the constitution of the parliamentary Bureau. Fernández was the only candidate for the speakership, since no other party wanted to present an alternative. So, the result of the voting was 35 votes in favour, those of PP and Vox, and 32 blank votes. The choice of Marta Fernández as speaker "brings a pride and a responsibility that Vox accepts, with the institutional respect that the Cortes de Aragón deserves, and with an attitude of service towards all the people of Aragón and the pluralism of political options that Parliament reflects". Vox made it clear that in the agreement reached with the PP "there is no mention of the investiture" of Jorge Azcón (PP) as president of the government of Aragon.

Hateful social media messages

Hours before being elected as speaker, Fernández deleted her Twitter account, where she has written a number of hateful messages, although her Instagram account, which contains messages in denial of Covid and climate change, as well as xenophobic statements, had not been deleted by this Friday. Under the nickname @marthynahappy, the far-right deputy made all kinds of comments, such as "Afraid of whom? Above me only God" or "You are wrong, feminist, you are the granddaughters of the Christians who expelled the Moors from the peninsula so that you could walk around the street showing your tits."

Despite her attempts to erase these statements and lower the aggressive profile she exhibits, social media users have recovered some of Fernández's most controversial statements. In one of her public appearances, the newly appointed speaker of the Cortes de Aragón attacked Spanish equality minister Irene Montero, of whom she said "she doesn't know anything about life. She only knows how to go down on her knees to get ahead." A twitter user recalled the moment:

Translation: "I present you to the new speaker of the Cortes de Aragón, the place where legislative power resides. Welcome to the legislature of shame. [PP politician]  Azcón, we will always remember you as the person who put the extremists in our lives. Terrible sadness." — Saúl Esclarín

Montero is one of her favourite targets for criticism. In one Twitter post, Fernández stated "I patiently await the day when all the crap you project falls by the tonne-load in your fucking face." Another of the messages that Fernández has removed, showing her denialism of Covid, shows an image with masks "for citizens" and, next to it, three bundles of banknotes "for journalists". In another tweet, she asks "why is a bacteria considered life on Mars when a prenatal heartbeat is not considered life on Earth?". The denial of the Covid virus was one of the recurring themes, about which she affirmed that "it is not natural, but a bat virus". "China created this in an intentional and premeditated way." In another tweet, Fernández accused "the communist dictator Pedro Sánchez" in a speech for the presidency of the EU, of omitting "to mention Ceuta and Melilla when talking about Spain".

Aragón is the autonomous community that borders Catalonia on its western flank. Among the other Spanish autonomous communities where PP-Vox governments are now taking shape following the May 28th elections are two others which are both physically and culturally close to Catalonia: the Valencia Country, to the south of Catalan, and offshore, the Balearic Islands. These three communities - Aragón, the Valencian Country and the Islands - are the main regions of the state where Catalan language is spoken outside Catalonia.