Maria Guardiola (Cáceres, 44 years old) chose the colossal National Museum of Roman Art of Mérida, work of the architect Rafael Moneo, for her official inauguration as president of the Junta de Extremadura, the first woman in history to hold this position. The monumental setting chosen not only represented a nod to history but also the only predecessor that the Popular Party has had in this position in Extremadura, Jose Antonio Monagowhich 12 years ago, then under the advice of Ivan Redondo, also staged the access to power in the spectacular central nave, among sculptures of Augustus, Aesculapius, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter Amun or Medusa. In the selection of places as emblematic as this one, politics is also written, also in a clear differentiation with Guillermo Fernández Varawhich in the last two legislatures chose the institutionality of the headquarters of the Assembly of Extremadura.
As for the guests – some 500 – and in the middle of the last week of the electoral campaign, Guardiola could not see himself wrapped up as Monago did then by the leadership of the PP. So, in 2011, the former president of the PP was in Mérida, Mariano Rajoyor the general secretary, Maria Dolores de Cospedal. Now, between rallies and electoral interviews, he was only Elias Bendodogeneral coordinator, and Pedro Rollan, vice-secretary of regional coordination. Neither did any regional baron attend. In turn, the Government gave him a low profile and sent an undersecretary. In the morning, in an interview in TVENúñez Feijóo himself, had assured that he had not “forced” María Guardiola to agree with Vox (she needed her five deputies) to become president of Extremadura, after the noise and controversy settled in the negotiations that were on the brink of a repeat election.
But that’s already the past. “You have to move on from the screen now,” he assumed on Friday when Guardiola herself was proclaimed in the Assembly of Extremadura. This Monday she wore a big, happy smile, dressed in a shiny white suit for such a solemn occasion. The former presidents were also present at the event. Juan Carlos Rodriguez IbarraJosé Antonio Monago himself and Guillermo Fernández Vara, in addition to the president of the Assembly, the socialist Blanca Martinwho had been in Valencia that morning for the inauguration of Carlos Mazon.
The representatives of Vox were also in the main room of the MNAR, while María Guardiola was accompanied by the two women who are in charge of the other powers in Extremadura: the legislative branch, Blanca Martín, and the judicial branch with the president of the Superior Court of Justice from Extremadura, Maria Felix Tena.
“Dear María, welcome,” Guillermo Fernández Vara always told her in a very close tone while recalling that “in 40 years we have only had three presidents,” recalled the former president of Extremadura, praising the fact that the people of Extremadura had opted for “the stability”. “We are rivals, but we are not enemies,” Fernández Vara also suggested, always close on the spot with the new president of the Board. And he made himself available to her, also speaking for Ibarra and for Monago, for when he needed his advice. “It’s your time, Maria.”