It is the first time that the PSN allows a government of EH Bildu, but it is not the first time they agree a great political agreement between them. The Government of Navarra of María Chivite, supported by EH Bildu in the last legislature, has agreed the annual budgets, and in the current legislature they are also on an equal footing. The situation has normalized in many places.

Joseba Asirón's mayor's agreement did not materialize in May, but in October the mayor of Tafalla, Xabier Alcuaz (EH Bildu), was appointed president of the Navarra Federation of Municipalities and Councils with the votes of the PSN. This indicated that for the future the other doors were open. The PSN councillor, Maite Sporrín, remained out of the city list after the 2019 elections in which the famous “goodbye to Asiron” was very excited. Possible future agreements would thus be simpler. In agreements, or in confrontations, people are also important.

In fact, Asiron’s 2015-2019 mandate was as complicated as desired. Geroa Bai, Aranzadi, IU-EB and EH Bildu then supported the government agreement, leaving UPN and PSN in opposition. And the same block maintained the Government of Navarra of Uxue Barkosen. During the legislature of the change there were great moments of tension between the PSN and EH Bildu in the city hall, such as the ikurrina or the new Basque lines opened by the city council in children's schools from 0 to 3 years old.

But it was also a legislature for many agreements, and UPN stayed alone. And even more isolated in the 2019-2023 legislature, in which Enrique Maya had to manage the mayor alone, in front of the joint opposition of the other parties. This motion of censure which comes, therefore, is not the one cooked yesterday evening, but the mature apple which has come in the last decade and has fallen now. It is also the last dirt road that has buried the two-decades corralito of UPN and PSN.

The loneliness of UPN

As of 2021, UPN has not been able to draw a budget in the City Hall of Pamplona and Cristina Ibarrola has lost more than 23 votes. UPN councillors, Javier Labairu, María Caballero and Carlos Salvador have also been rejected by the municipal corporation. And the mayor has regressed on issues such as the baths of the Sanfermin Txiki festivities in Pamplona or the parking of Sangüesa Street. With the support of eleven councillors (9 UPN plus 2 PP), Ibarrola has continuously faced the opposition wall (EH Bildu 8, PSN 5, Geroa Bai 2 and Caixabank-Tú 1).

The motion of censure has been a logical response to this situation. Consequently, UPN has broken all its relations with the PSN and left the Navarra Federation of Municipalities and Councils, when UPN President Javier Esparza offered a government agreement to the PSN four days ago. UPN responds, in line with the right-wing and right-wing behaviour in the Amnesty earthquake in Spain, accusing the PSOE of having reached an agreement with terrorists, with ETA members, and urging them to take the streets.

UPN is the most voted party in Navarre, it has a lot of strength, but less and less, and lives a critical situation in the face of the PP impulse. In November, his annual assembly was held and, despite the unbelievable of every day, Esparza proposed to his colleagues a trip to the center where they could form the government with PSN and Geroa Bai. The congress is held in the spring and it is likely that the road to Esparza will end, and perhaps Ibarrola will start there as head of UPN, although it cannot be forgotten that Alejandro Toquero de Tudela is also dancing his names to run the party.

Next to the center the PSN has escaped to UPN and to the right, Sergio Sayas and Carlos Garciá Adanero, who is eating the PP area. In Pamplona’s protests against the Amnesty Law that has been made clear, they have been called by the PP and UPN followers have come to the streets under their flag. Now, with the hearings called against the motion of censure, UPN wants to recover the street.

Last July the PSN won the congressional elections in Navarre, the second EH Bildu and the third UPN. UPN has never suffered a large electoral humiliation. And now the City of Pamplona, the last great institution ruled by UPN. It is not easy to swallow.

The response of Esparza with ETA is significant. Although the message of ETA in Spain is still strong, in Navarra it is increasingly anachronistic. The consequences of the conflict continue to be there, without a doubt, diminishing in society, but their traces are being channelled in another way, as demonstrated by the agreement of EH Bildu and PSN.

In short, the majority of the citizens of Pamplona, instead of Capuchins, see Joseba Asirón again ready to take the baton of command, to be closer or closer to ideas, to the mayor who gained respect in the progressive area of Pamplona. The motion of censure will take place on 28 December, the first that will take place in Pamplona since 1979, and may also be the beginning of a new path, if the experiment is fruitful, which will be extended to other Navarran municipalities in the present or the next term.