Vox proposes investigating the subsidised housing in Javea

José Marcos Pons, Javea’s sole Vox councillor, only requires a few words on social media to incite controversy with cutting comments directed at his political opponents. He has done it again. With only six words and several noticeable spelling errors, he has sent a strong warning to the local administration, which is currently made up entirely of the PP and CpJ parties, from which Pons was ousted at the end of last year due to an alleged case of sexual harassment.

Although Pons astonished everyone at the previous plenary session by acting fairly conciliatory toward the mayor, Rosa Cardona, a member of the People’s Party (PP), who, after all, was the one who removed him from the executive branch, it appears that this ceasefire has now gone. And the hostilities have begun. On Thursday, February 5th,the Vox councillor published two social media posts demonstrating this.

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Barcala, Cardona, and Protected Housing

Pons cited an article from Información stating that the Valencian Parliament’s Vox group has joined forces with the PSPV and Compromís parties to initiate a commission of inquiry into subsidised housing in Alicante, a rare move. A serious scandal has broken out in that city after several of these homes were granted to the city councillor for Urban Planning, who has since resigned, as well as a municipal architect and two sons of a high-ranking politician. This has put Alicante’s mayor, Luis Barcala, a member of the People’s Party, in a tough situation.

While not on the same scale as the Alicante case, the subject of subsidised housing in Javea has been particularly contentious: it is still unknown who will eventually purchase these valuable houses, which are due to begin construction. However, the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party) has condemned the scheme, alleging that it would be a profitable bargain for the developer, who will be able to sell 66 of the flats in exchange for handing over the remaining 16—ironically, the smallest—to the town council. And this is all on public land.

Pons supported the entire real estate process during his tenure in municipal government. However, now that he is in opposition, he is unsure. The Javea council’s political mix is similar to that of the Valencian Parliament. If Vox joins forces with the PSOE and Compromís, they might form a commission. All of this is understandable, given that Pons is only following in the footsteps of his party colleagues in Alicante in demanding explanations for social housing in Javea.

Feijoo, Ayuso, and Móstoles

But Pons’s frenzy on social media didn’t stop there. The Vox councillor wrote another message—which he later deleted—about the alleged harassment issue that resulted in his removal from the municipal administration. He cited news sources indicating that the PP’s national president, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, supported Isabel Díaz Ayuso, arguing that the mayor of Móstoles’ alleged harassment of a former PP councilwoman was unfounded. He went on to say that no action should be taken against Madrid’s mayor.

Pons accomplishes all of this to underline that, in contrast, in Javea, Mayor Rosa Cardona did not support him and decided to fire him despite the fact that the municipal investigation into his case is still ongoing. Pons makes another powerful online comment, this time reduced into ten words and with another spelling error: “In Madrid, there is no rough stone… or different standards of measurement” (sic).

The reference to the harsh terrain referred to an editorial by a media outlet in Javea that praised Cardona’s move to dismiss the Vox councillor with the heading “A mayor with a firm hand like the rough terrain.”

Author: Derek Appleton