Vox has been a powder keg in Cantabria since the start of the legislature, but currently the situation has worsened to such an extent that its parliamentary group is on the verge of dissolving definitively. To the open and notorious confrontation between the current spokesperson, Leticia Díaz, and the president of the last legislature, Cristóbal Palacio, and to episodes as improbable as the spying scandal between deputies, we now add that two of the four parliamentarians, precisely Palacio and Díaz, have internal files open for different reasons.
And recently, the leadership of the far-right group suspended Palacio from activism for “negligence in his duties”, as reported by El Diario Montañés and this media was able to confirm. Asked about this by elDiario.es, the Vox deputy assures that he has already filed an appeal, for which, he says, there is no deadline for resolution. He did not want to comment on the possibility of leaving the Vox parliamentary group and joining the joint group as a non-attached MP, an alternative that some of his own colleagues are proposing.
Asked about the scenario that could open up to him if his party rejected the appeal he presented, Palacio was convinced that this would not happen: “I do not envisage the possibility that this will not be admitted,” he stressed. “There was an error on the part of the investigating body and it is easily verifiable,” he defended himself in an interview with this newspaper, stressing that the resolution is not final.
It is precisely because of his political commitment that this MP was at the center of controversies both during this legislature and the previous one. Then, while he was spokesperson, the Autonomous Chamber reduced his salary by half because it considered that his full dedication in the public institution was “incompatible” with his private economic activity, he again tried to receive the absolute salary in this institution. new period and, once again, Parliament overturned it.
And in this vote, the internal division of the Vox parliamentary group was put on display, since the deputies Leticia Díaz and Natividad Pérez joined the rest of the parliamentary forces to withdraw through their votes the total dedication to their group partner, who only received the support of one MP. from the far right, like Armando Blanco.
Palacio’s dual professional activity – public and private, with therefore two sources of economic income – was revealed in the middle of the last legislature when this deputy asked to modify the agenda of a plenary session because it coincided with a trial of the one who was going to exercise his activity as a lawyer, even if he was paid exclusively by the Autonomous Chamber.
From then on, a melon was open about his case, since he served as spokesperson, a function for which he received only exclusive devotion. Parliament finally decided to adapt its regulations to allow him to exercise part-time, after the Palace declared that it was not prepared to lose the presidency. And in this Parliament that is not a spokesperson and that maintains an open confrontation with Díaz, the current deputy who occupies this position, she received in an incompatible manner a full-time salary for eight months that the House refused to restore.
But behind closed doors, the situation at the Palace was already being described as a “serious problem”, according to an internal report from the far-right group to which this newspaper had access. According to the letter, Palacio should not be entitled to a partial dedication, but only to compensation or a daily allowance for attending the sessions, as is the case for other deputies, since his parliamentary work was barely limited to these appearances.
In this sense, the report collected statistics from Parliament itself: in 2022, of the 110 times the different committees met, Palacio only attended 10, 50 fewer than he had to ‘be, being replaced in these cases by Armando Blanco. Even when he had to be absent due to illness, Palacio did not come to represent his party, according to his own colleagues.
Two sanctions in one month
The suspension of activism to which Palacio was temporarily subjected comes a month after management led by Santiago Abascal did the same to the spokesperson, in this case for workplace harassment of a worker. And it was vox populi the long-term leave of one of the employees in a context of high work tension within the parliamentary group.
The internal party report mentioned above spoke openly of “moral harassment” during the 2019-2023 legislature against the journalist Laura Velasco and at the time coordinator of Vox in the Cantabria Parliament, which ended up be transferred to the Basque Country then to Asturias. by the national leadership. Currently, Velasco is councilor and spokesperson for the City Council of Santander, as well as president of Vox in Cantabria after the resignation of Emilio del Valle, after the intervention of the national leadership of the party to appoint a director and thus avoid decomposition of the party.
Shortly after, the secretary general of the ultra formation, Ignacio Garriga, had to intervene again, this time in the parliamentary group due to the spying crisis denounced by the Palacio y Blanco faction, and in which he was allegedly involved an advisor allegedly involved. . works for the spokesperson and that he allegedly recorded conversations without consent using a pen-like device.
The situation of advisors has been a source of concern within the far-right party since the last legislature. Then, Palacio surrounded himself with like-minded people, such as Niko Gutiérrez, president of Vox de Vizcaya, whom he appointed parliamentary coordinator, and from whom Leticia Díaz renounced herself at this point where he is spokesperson. Despite this, these practices of placing officials from other communities as advisors continue to be maintained. Leticia Díaz appointed a Catalan parliamentarian, Toni López, who was a deputy for Lleida, to the position of coordinator. López, known for receiving two full-time public salaries for months, is still active as an advisor to the Cantabrian Parliament.
