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🇪🇸 Spain /Elections & Politics

Valencia socialists present four mayoral candidates, led by Pilar Bernabé

From El País · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • The Valencian Socialists have selected Pilar Bernabé as their candidate for mayor of Valencia, alongside candidates for Alicante, Castellón and Elche.
  • Party leader Diana Morant said the candidates had eight months to regain ground and declared the party ready to govern the future.
  • Bernabé highlighted her work after the October 2024 floods and pledged to avoid insults during the campaign.

Pilar Bernabé has become the Valencian Socialists' official candidate for mayor of Valencia after presenting her bid without an opposing candidate. The party also selected Trini Amorós for Alicante, Rafa Simó for Castellón and Héctor Díez for Elche.

Diana Morant, leader of the Valencian Socialists and Spain's science minister, presented the candidates on Monday at the party headquarters in Valencia. “We have eight months to regain what matters,” Morant said. She described the party as starting the week pleased to have candidates for the largest municipalities where it does not govern, calling that a clear message that the PSPV is ready to govern the future.

We have eight months to regain what matters.

· Diana MorantMorant described the time remaining before the party's electoral campaign.

Morant portrayed the regional government led by People's Party president Juafran Pérez Llorca as being in “stoppage time.” She said the Socialists expected it to lose the election, while also questioning whether Llorca would stand again and whether he would remain leader of the regional PP. Morant rejected claims that residents were turning away from the PSPV brand, arguing that voters had continued to recognize progressive values during difficult moments for democracy.

We are ready to govern the future.

· Diana MorantMorant presented the four candidates as evidence of the party's readiness.

Bernabé, 46, said she would not resort to insults during the campaign. Her pledge referred to Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso's insult against Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and her later claim that she had said “I like fruit.” Bernabé presented her response to the devastating floods of October 29, 2024, as evidence of her record, citing her months of accompanying affected mayors and residents.

If elected, she said her administration would take a metropolitan approach. Party colleagues have called her the “mayor of the province” because she visited many muddy municipalities around the capital, an area with a combined population of 1.6 million. “Valencia is my personal and life project,” Bernabé said. She is currently the central government's delegate in the Valencian Community and the PSOE's federal equality secretary, and would face incumbent mayor María José Catalá in the mayoral race.

Valencia is my personal and life project.

· Pilar BernabéBernabé described her connection to the city as she launched her mayoral bid.
About this summary

Originally published by El País in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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