Barcelona mayoral candidate and former French prime minister Manuel Valls has issued a warning to the party backing his candidature - Ciudadanos (Cs) - that "any agreement on policy programme or government with Vox" would be "a political error and a moral incongruity" and "incompatible with European values." Valls stated that he would not work "with left-wing populists, separatists or the most reactionary extremists of the right," and that he would not accept on his Barcelona candidature anyone that gives legitimacy to these radical groups.
In a statement made after the agreement by Cs and the PP that has led to Vox being given a place on the Andalusian Parliament's presiding Board, Valls defended the government programme agreed in Andalusia by the parties of the right because, according to him, "it clearly bears the progressive brand of Ciudadanos" and "does not pose a threat against [Andalusia's regional] autonomy" nor does it "have anything to do with Vox's proposals." However, he reiterated the need for the [Socialist] PSOE to abstain in the vote to invest the new Andalusian president, in order to "allowing the PP and Cs to govern", adding that "it is better to lose votes or even lose the government" than "betray democratic values."
Translation:
From my platform, @vallsBCN_2019, I have been in favour of Spain and Catalonia creating pacts of state between the constitutionalist forces that distance them from left-wing populists, separatists or the most reactionary extremists of the right....
On my platform @vallsBCN_2019 I will not accept anyone who gives legitimacy to these radical groups. In this regard, I would like to state that the recent resolutions in the Catalan Parliament and the Barcelona City Council against the constitution and the king are unacceptable.— Manuel Valls
In the statement, Valls argued that he is an "independent candidate" and expressed his opposition to the extreme right that Vox represents. "The appearance of the extreme right in institutions, even if results from outcomes of voting, is bad news for Spain and for Europe," he said.
In spite of this, and in relation to Andalusia, Valls said that "we need to wait and analyze the scenario that emerges from the current political dialogue" on the formation of a new government in the southern Spanish region. And although he congratulated Cs for having won the position of speaker in the Andalusian chamber, he warned the party that making a governmental agreement with Vox or a combined policy programme would be "betraying their own convictions."
Any agreement on policy programme or government with @vox_es would, on the other hand, be a political #error and a moral incongruity. It would be incompatible with the European values that many of us defend. — Manuel Valls