The PP voted against its coalition partner’s motion on immigrant regularisation, while joining the PSOE and other parties to support a service for LGBTQ+ people.
Vox was once again isolated in Orihuela City Council on issues linked to immigration and LGBTQ+ rights.
During Thursday’s plenary session, the party led locally by Manuel Mestre, failed to win support for a motion opposing the regularisation of migrants. All other political groups voted against it.
The debate came during a long and tense session in which Vox also opposed a proposal linked to support for LGBTQ+ people, while the PP, its governing partner, joined the PSOE and the rest of the council groups to vote in favour.
Vox changes position on council management salaries
Earlier in the session, Vox changed its position on a proposal from the Human Resources Department, controlled by the PP, to approve salaries for two senior management posts in Orihuela City Council.
The proposal set the salary for the Comptroller’s Office at €69,802 and the Legal Department at €60,200. The payments would apply retroactively from the approval of the Job Classification List, known as the RPT, in December 2025.
Vox had previously abstained in the information committee, where the proposal was rejected. However, during the plenary session, Vox voted in favour alongside the PP and did not take part in the debate, despite repeated calls from the opposition for an explanation.
Opposition councillors questioned the relationship between the PP and Vox over the RPT, which has three phases. The third phase includes the creation of new jobs and requires a municipal budget that has still not been approved.
Human Resources councillor Agustina Rodríguez said the plan would be introduced gradually.
Ciudadanos councillor Luis Boné said the proposal raised doubts about transparency and possible conflicts of interest. She said that those were the same reasons Vox had previously given for abstaining.
Boné also criticised the fact that the proposal arrived six months late. She questioned the criteria used to set the salaries and said the process appeared to favour certain posts rather than form part of a complete and planned reform of the municipal workforce.
Rodríguez denied any conflict of interest and said the supporting report had been written not only by the legal adviser, but also by other Human Resources staff.
Council backs LGBTQ+ support service
The main split between the governing partners came during the debate on the Orienta service, a public support service for LGBTQ+ people.
The service was launched in 2019 by the former regional government in Valencia. Its future in the province of Alicante remains uncertain.
The PSOE presented a motion calling for an LGBTQ+ office for the Vega Baja region, based in Orihuela. The motion was approved with the support of all council groups except Vox.
Vox councillor Anabel García voted against the proposal. She said that anyone who suffers harassment or discrimination should receive help from public institutions, but added that Vox would not support “ideological fronts with public money.”
Leticia Pertegal, from Cambiemos, criticised Vox’s position and said the real problem was the Family Department, which she accused of doing little beyond “empty rhetoric and self-promotion.”
Rodríguez said the Valencian regional government has a legal duty to defend LGBTQ+ rights and maintain the Orienta service. She explained that the organisation that had been running the service had suddenly stopped doing so because of debt. As a result, the regional ministry took over the service directly and is now looking for a legal way to continue providing it.
Rodríguez also denied that there had been cuts to diversity policies. She pointed to a 6.24% budget increase and an expansion of the grant programme. She added that one of her first actions as councillor was to ask for the service to be provided in Orihuela.
PSOE councillor Juan López welcomed Rodríguez’s commitment but warned that diversity cannot be protected only with statements or by raising flags once a year.
“We will continue moving forward with you or in spite of you,” López said, addressing Vox.
PP rejects Vox motion on immigration
The most heated debate came during Vox’s motion against the regularisation of immigrants.
It was the latest in a series of Vox initiatives on immigration. The PP has rejected most of them so far, including motions on a “return ticket,” the Feast of the Lamb and “national priority” in public aid. The exception was the ban on the Islamic full-face veil in municipal buildings, which the PP supported.
Rodríguez again defended the PP’s opposition to Vox’s proposal. She said the debate felt like “Groundhog Day” because Vox kept returning to the same subject.
She accused Vox of trying to demonise migrants, saying that people should not be described as “irregular people,” but as people in an irregular administrative situation.
Quique Montero, from Cambiemos, said the motion was designed to create “noise and demagoguery.”
Socialist councillor Isidro Grao went further, calling it “the most despicable speech” brought to the plenary session. He accused Vox of spreading hatred, fear and manipulation.
“It is racism, and it is indecent,” Grao said.
Ciudadanos spokesperson José Aix also criticised Mestre, accusing Vox of bringing national party proposals from Madrid into the local council and increasing tension in the streets and in the plenary chamber.
The debate became so heated that Mayor Pepe Vegara had to call for calm and warned that microphones could be muted.
“I can’t wait for this motion to end,” the mayor said.
In the end, Vox was left isolated. Every other group voted against the motion.
Other motions approved and rejected
After the immigration debate, Vox supported two motions presented by Ciudadanos, both of which were approved.
One addressed flooding problems in buildings on Calle Médico Temístocles Almagro, caused by a poorly sealed irrigation ditch. The PP voted against that motion.
The second called for an increase in the number of taxi and ride-hailing vehicle licences. The PP abstained.
Later, Vox failed to pass its own proposal to change the scoring criteria for places in public nursery schools by adding family reconciliation measures. All groups except Ciudadanos voted against it.
Council accepts powers for new coastal health centre
The plenary session also approved the acceptance of powers delegated by the Generalitat Valenciana for the construction of a second health centre on the Orihuela coast.
The project will receive up to €8,903,435 in funding from the regional government. Once the building opens, the council will be responsible for maintenance, conservation and running costs.
The proposal was approved with the support of most groups. Ciudadanos and Cambiemos voted against it.
The debate took place while members of the local education community protested outside City Hall as part of an indefinite teachers’ strike.
