Spain: 1st regional coalition with far-right raises concerns

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s conservative opposition is joining with increasingly influential national-populist politicians to govern Spain’s northwestern Castilla y León region, marking the first major power grab for the far-right Vox party. The “legislature agreement” was announced Thursday in a tweet by the incumbent chief of Castilla y León. His center-to-right Popular Party won a February election, but fell short of a majority of seats in the regional assembly. Vox, whose proposals range from deporting migrants who enter the country irregularly to suspending gender violence laws or banning school programs on sexual and gender diversity, has in recent years gained popularity. The party is now third in the number of seats it holds in the national parliament.