Spain's Ibex warns Feijóo: No Vox coalition, prestige required
Spanish economic elites urge Alberto Núñez Feijóo to exclude Vox from government, fearing reputational damage and loss of investor confidence.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Ibex warns: wants a government without Vox and with prestigious names
Economic power does not want Vox in the government. This is not an anonymous leak or corridor rumor: it is what business and social leaders convey to Alberto Núñez Feijóo during months of meetings, according to reports opening this issue. These encounters leave an impression of confidence that there will be no coalition at La Moncloa. The argument circulating among those who control the productive fabric is twofold: if Abascal blocks or demands ministries, "prestigious people do not want to get their hands dirty there."
What economic power says exactly about Vox
The central thesis is that any scenario not supported by a clear and resolute PP majority, which opens the door to Vox controlling ministries, will weaken the level of the new government's economic team. The reason is not ideological on a macro scale: it is about personnel. Profiles with management experience do not want to be associated with an executive where Santiago Abascal holds the vice presidency.
The second front is regional. Economic power remains alert and closely watching negotiations in the autonomous communities, where it detects growing radicalization of Vox in post-election pacts. This is the scenario investors view with most distrust: not the program, but the daily management of agreements.
Why Ibex prefers Feijóo without Vox
Feijóo has been meeting for months with banks, industry, self-employed associations, and agricultural representatives. From these encounters emerges the reading that Ibex prefers a PP government without Abascal's party, and some add that they would even be less uncomfortable with an executive including the right-wing branch of PSOE or Ciudadanos in its time. Everything else, they argue, generates discomfort.
The paradox is that economic power itself appears portrayed in the debate as an actor that does not control the outcome. Feijóo does not decide whether Abascal blocks or demands portfolios. And here the narrative breaks: if Ibex does not want Vox, but Vox can condition the government, who is in charge?
The argument that dismantles the Ibex narrative
The most repeated objection is that economic power always appears as a wildcard. It does not want Sánchez because he raises taxes to sustain the welfare state. It does not want Podemos because it fights against the rich. It does not want Vox because its pacts are "too radical," despite being economically the opposite of the previous ones. If everyone is an enemy of Ibex, Ibex is just a label used to justify anything.
A second line of analysis points to the same thing from another angle: Ibex companies have connections with any government, and what they really want is stability. For a company, nothing is worse than uncertainty. And uncertainty is not generated by Vox: it is generated by a scenario without a clear majority.
Who is "high-level people" in Ibex?
The concept of "high-level people" who do not want to get dirty has received immediate pushback. The example given is those who inherited a bank from their father and crashed the stock, or who asked for €10 billion to make a new technology viable, or who preside over an oil company because they were politicians. With such resumes, the prestige filter loses strength.
The uncomfortable question remaining is: if Ibex demands prestigious names to avoid destabilizing the economic team, why aren't those names already in the public sector? The answer given in the debate is that prestige is measured by the revolving door, not by management.
Background: Vox as useful dissent
At the heart of the matter lies a change of framework. For years, economic dissent was located in the space left of PSOE. Now some argue that Vox occupies that place, and that economic power points to it as the enemy to beat precisely because it does not control its agenda. The problem is that Vox is not an economic dissent: it is an ultraliberal, privatizing, and Atlanticist party in economic terms, and nobody resolves that contradiction.
The conclusion imposed is that Ibex does not have a problem with Vox due to its economic program, but due to its fruta cost. And fruta cost is not measured in euros, but in names that do not want to sign.
With these elements, it is predictable that Ibex will continue pressing for a PP government without Vox. But the prediction has reservations: if Abascal maintains the blockade and Feijóo needs his votes, economic power will have to choose between its prestigious names and its peace of mind. And there, no poll counts.
Economic power does not want Vox in the government. This is not an anonymous leak or corridor rumor: it is what business and social leaders convey to Alberto Núñez Feijóo during months of meetings, according to reports opening this issue. These encounters leave an impression of confidence that there will be no coalition at La Moncloa. The argument circulating among those who control the productive fabric is twofold: if Abascal blocks or demands ministries, "prestigious people do not want to get their hands dirty there."
What economic power says exactly about Vox
The central thesis is that any scenario not supported by a clear and resolute PP majority, which opens the door to Vox controlling ministries, will weaken the level of the new government's economic team. The reason is not ideological on a macro scale: it is about personnel. Profiles with management experience do not want to be associated with an executive where Santiago Abascal holds the vice presidency.
The second front is regional. Economic power remains alert and closely watching negotiations in the autonomous communities, where it detects growing radicalization of Vox in post-election pacts. This is the scenario investors view with most distrust: not the program, but the daily management of agreements.
Why Ibex prefers Feijóo without Vox
Feijóo has been meeting for months with banks, industry, self-employed associations, and agricultural representatives. From these encounters emerges the reading that Ibex prefers a PP government without Abascal's party, and some add that they would even be less uncomfortable with an executive including the right-wing branch of PSOE or Ciudadanos in its time. Everything else, they argue, generates discomfort.
The paradox is that economic power itself appears portrayed in the debate as an actor that does not control the outcome. Feijóo does not decide whether Abascal blocks or demands portfolios. And here the narrative breaks: if Ibex does not want Vox, but Vox can condition the government, who is in charge?
The argument that dismantles the Ibex narrative
The most repeated objection is that economic power always appears as a wildcard. It does not want Sánchez because he raises taxes to sustain the welfare state. It does not want Podemos because it fights against the rich. It does not want Vox because its pacts are "too radical," despite being economically the opposite of the previous ones. If everyone is an enemy of Ibex, Ibex is just a label used to justify anything.
A second line of analysis points to the same thing from another angle: Ibex companies have connections with any government, and what they really want is stability. For a company, nothing is worse than uncertainty. And uncertainty is not generated by Vox: it is generated by a scenario without a clear majority.
Who is "high-level people" in Ibex?
The concept of "high-level people" who do not want to get dirty has received immediate pushback. The example given is those who inherited a bank from their father and crashed the stock, or who asked for €10 billion to make a new technology viable, or who preside over an oil company because they were politicians. With such resumes, the prestige filter loses strength.
The uncomfortable question remaining is: if Ibex demands prestigious names to avoid destabilizing the economic team, why aren't those names already in the public sector? The answer given in the debate is that prestige is measured by the revolving door, not by management.
Background: Vox as useful dissent
At the heart of the matter lies a change of framework. For years, economic dissent was located in the space left of PSOE. Now some argue that Vox occupies that place, and that economic power points to it as the enemy to beat precisely because it does not control its agenda. The problem is that Vox is not an economic dissent: it is an ultraliberal, privatizing, and Atlanticist party in economic terms, and nobody resolves that contradiction.
The conclusion imposed is that Ibex does not have a problem with Vox due to its economic program, but due to its fruta cost. And fruta cost is not measured in euros, but in names that do not want to sign.
With these elements, it is predictable that Ibex will continue pressing for a PP government without Vox. But the prediction has reservations: if Abascal maintains the blockade and Feijóo needs his votes, economic power will have to choose between its prestigious names and its peace of mind. And there, no poll counts.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (105 replies).
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