Aragón's president Jorge Azcón has dismissed Minister Pilar Alegría's proposal to agree on regional budgets, amid a tense meeting filled with mutual criticisms. Alegría accuses Azcón of calling elections out of whim or incompetence, while the PP labels the socialist offer as phony. This paves the way for early polls in February.
The meeting between the PP and PSOE in Aragón on December 10, 2025, failed to produce a budget agreement. Hours earlier, regional president Jorge Azcón tweeted criticism of Pilar Alegría, the socialist leader and Education Minister, over her meeting with Paco Salazar, a former advisor accused of sexual harassment. In the post, Azcón stated: “It will be a pleasure to detail that the fight against sexist violence is a priority for my Government, with the aim that cases like that of your friend Francisco Salazar do not go unpunished”.
In a press conference in Zaragoza after the meeting, Alegría disclosed that she proposed forming a technical commission to negotiate the budgets and that the PSOE would back the PP's stability path. However, Azcón turned down the offer, citing distrust of the socialists. “To that outstretched hand, Mr. Azcón has bitten it”, the minister regretted, reiterating that an early election call would be “out of whim, personal interest, or incompetence”.
From the PP side, Finance Counselor Roberto Bermúdez de Castro described the offer as “the most phony meeting I've ever participated in” and stated: “They are not trustworthy [the PSOE] and, therefore, we cannot reach any kind of agreement”. He called the PSOE's extended hand “a rotten hand” and Alegría “the most advanced apprentice of [Pedro] Sánchez”.
The PSOE's rejection adds to Vox's dismissal of the budgets the previous Tuesday, dooming them. PP sources indicate Azcón will call elections in the coming days, possibly on Monday, setting the vote for February 8. This scenario highlights the political polarization in Aragón, where the PP governs in a minority and seeks alternatives for public finances.
