Fourteen powers have passed to the Basque Government under the investiture agreement with Pedro Sánchez, Maribel Vaquero says. The PNV’s Congress spokesperson puts fulfilment of the deal at 75%, though some commitments remain outstanding.
Vaquero says the agreement has also increased the Basque Country’s energy capacity for industry. On care, she points to arrangements under which the central government covers half the financing. She says the deal has worked, though it could have delivered more. The PNV, she adds, will judge its support for the government by the Basque agenda.
On Vox, Vaquero leaves no room for doubt. She says the PNV will take part in no pact involving the party, arguing that Vox wants to make the PNV illegal and that its proposals clash with democratic principles. She describes her party as socially progressive and economically liberal, with wealth creation tied to redistribution. In a 14 November 2026 interview with Agencia EFE in San Sebastián, Vaquero said the PNV would oppose a PP-Vox government while continuing to work for measures benefiting Euskadi.
She argues that the PP has embraced Vox and could not govern without it. That stance follows the PNV’s earlier warnings about a PP-Vox government, covered in earlier coverage of Esteban’s warning. Vaquero also cites differences with the PP over migration and social policy, alongside its economic approach. The PNV’s campaign has presented it as an independent Basque voice in Madrid, seeking agreements and pressing governments to honour commitments rather than automatically aligning with either national bloc. Vaquero said negotiations with the PP would become considerably more difficult if it governed alongside Vox.
On relations with the PP, she points to disagreements over the proposed land bill and the use of earpieces for interpreting Euskera in Congress. She says the party’s position reflects hostility to other languages and identities. The PNV, she adds, sees the PP’s claims to defend the fueros and the economic agreement as largely rhetorical. The party has also framed its campaign around defending Basque self-government and a new political status for Euskadi, with the right to decide central to that effort. On 9 November, it said it would firmly oppose attempts to reverse Basque political powers.
Vaquero also distinguishes the Gürtel case from allegations involving members of the PSOE. She says the Gürtel case included a court judgment referring to illegal party financing, while stressing that the PNV has criticised the PSOE cases too. She describes Spain’s political climate as deeply discredited.
She accuses Bildu of seeking to replace the PNV and of following Pedro Sánchez’s lead. The parties, she says, have failed to reach agreements on issues such as housing. Vaquero has separately called a cross-party housing agreement indispensable and urged parties to set political interests aside. These are Vaquero’s criticisms of Bildu’s strategy and conduct.
