Alice. Protection. Anne. Three women’s names. This is the title of the story with which Carlos Flores Juberiasmember of parliament Voicebecame a finalist in the municipal short story competition Beatriu CiveraHe ran under a pseudonym, like the rest of the candidates.
For now, little is remarkable, beyond the literary talent of the politician applauded by an independent jury. The problem is that Flores was found guilty of psychological violence against his ex-wifeand that the competition has a marked feminist character.
In the municipal group of PP It fell like a real bomb. The training, as EL ESPAÑOL learned, considers this as a provocationand put his legal team to work to try to cancel the finalist status of this story.
The same thing, according to the basics, implies the dissemination of the finalist texts by the City of Valencia in an official publication.
The sources consulted by this newspaper convey deep anger at what happenedThe close relationship that exists between the deputy mayor of Vox, Juanma Badenasand Flores Juberías himself.
Far from seeing it as a political obstacle, Vox has been boasting since the 2023 electoral campaign of having placed Carlos Flores Juberías as candidate for the presidency of the Generalitat, despite knowing the court’s decision, which came in 2002.
Carlos Mazon demanded that he not be part of the autonomous government, and that is how Carlos Flores ended his mandate. head of list for the Congress of Deputies after the electoral advance of Pedro Sanchez.
In this political context, while the general public knows about the conviction for mistreatment of Flores Juberías in 2002, the leader decided to participate in an openly feminist competition.
“Attributed stereotypes”
“The purpose of this competition is to write a short, original and unpublished story, which has not won a prize in previous competitions, with content that deals with overcoming stereotypes attributed to women and their empowerment,” the appeal reads.
She asked the authors for work on “the visibility of female figures who can serve as references, the presence of women in masculinized environments and the obstacles they must overcome in their life path.”.
The jury was composed of a researcher from the University of Valencia, a doctor of law, a linguist from the City Council and a famous Valencian journalist.
The pseudonym of the participants preserved everyone’s identityand Carlos Flores’ work became a finalist on its own merits.
The surprise came when opening the envelopes which revealed the identity of the authors. The law professor, with proven academic skills, also seems to have literary talent.
Political notoriety
But in the PP, even if it recognizes the subtlety of the process, it is considered that Flores Juberías acted in bad faith, in search of political notoriety and with eagerness to boycott the nature of the competition.
“We are analyzing all the information about the finalists and winners to see if they meet the requirements established by the regulations and the appeal,” he explained this Thursday evening. Rocio Gilcity councilor for Equality.
“We study legally what possibilities do we have“We are not going to make any decision that is not legally supported,” she insisted, specifically asking whether she would rescind Flores’ finalist status or stop publishing her text.
Regarding his personal opinion, he regretted what happened, with a veiled condemnation of Flores Juberías’ past. “I am a councilor for equality, I believe deeply in equality. You can all imagine what I think about this.“, said.
It was the municipal group of Commitmentswho revealed the finalist status of Flores Juberías. The spokesperson for Compromís, Papi Roblesconsidered it “very serious” that the mayor, Maria Jose Catala“publish, in a story competition on equality, a text by a famous Vox MP found guilty of mistreating his wife.”
The author of the text, in his X account, celebrated his finalist status and shared the first lines of what, he says, is his seventh short story.
“My gratitude to the Valencia City Council for its initiative, my gratitude to the Jury for its distinction, my congratulations to Berta Esparza for her well-deserved First Prize… and my three pieces of advice to the left in the face of her childish anger: read more, respect Culture… and show up next year” he said.
This is how “Alicia. Amparo. Ana” begins, the seventh of my short stories to see the light of day, and which has just been awarded first finalist in the VIII “Beatriu Civera” Story Competition organized by the Valencia City Council.
My gratitude to the City Hall of Valencia… pic.twitter.com/f7S5A9XlXh– Carlos Flores Juberias (@FloresJuberias) September 19, 2024
The spokesperson of the PSPV-PSOE, Borja Sanjuandemanded that Catalá not publish Flores’ story and announced that he would ask the Government Council to do so this Friday. In addition, he demanded that Rocío Gil be stripped of her powers in matters of equality.
“This is the umpteenth mockery and provocation that María José Catalá authorizes the extreme right against women and, more specifically, against victims of sexist violence,” she said.
Criticism has also come from the central government. The Minister for Equality, Ana Redondoconsidered it “intolerable” that the current national deputy of Vox was a finalist in the short story competition.
““Intolerable. An aggressor awarded. This is an insult to equality and a devastating step backwards that calls into question the awards themselves. Who wants to receive an award with an aggressor? We ask the Valencia City Council to rectify this immediately,” he said.
