Spanish Cabinet Regrets Coalition Gov't Deal By Andalusia's Right-Wing Parties - Source

MADRID (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2019) The Spanish cabinet regrets the coalition government agreement reached by right-wing parties of the southern Andalusia autonomous region, the sources in the central government said, criticizing the deal as a move toward xenophobia.

On Wednesday, Andalusia's conservative Popular Party (PP) and the center-right Citizens party reached the coalition deal. The far-right Vox party supported the deal after the PP agreed to meet several of its requirements, including the settlement of the illegal migration issue. The deal opened the way for Juanma Moreno, the leader of the PP's regional branch, to head the new government, which will be the first right-wing government to administer the region since 1982.

"We regret the radicalization of the Popular Party and Citizens and their pact with the ultra-right which we have learned about today.

Moreover, Citizens have failed to heed the calls of European parties to exercise moderation and expose authoritarianism of the ultra-right. Citizens have helped Vox to play the main role in Andalusia's government," the sources said.

The officials called the deal "a shift to machismo and xenophobia" and a "return to the past."

The sources reiterated the Spanish government's commitment to European values, saying Madrid would monitor the developments in Andalusia.

Vox's requirements as part of its deal with the PP included abandoning legislation on protecting women from domestic violence, deporting over 50,000 of migrants from Spain's most populous region and other policy changes. While some of them, like annulling laws on protecting the LGBT community's rights, have been dismissed, the PP pledged to settle the migration crisis in the region.