Pilar Bernabé to head PSOE's Valencia list for 29 November general election

The list

Pilar Bernabé, the government delegate in the Valencian Community and secretary general of the PSPV-PSOE in the city of Valencia, will head the PSOE list for Congress in Valencia province for the general election on 29 November, according to party sources cited by Europa Press. Finance Minister Arcadi España is set to be number two and Rebeca Torró, the party's secretary of organisation, number three. Levante-EMV first reported the arrangement, and several outlets said party sources confirmed it to them. El Mundo reports that socialist sources see the choice as a strategy agreed between Pedro Sánchez and Diana Morant, secretary general of the Valencian socialists, who headed the 2023 Valencian list ahead of former minister José Luis Ábalos. El Confidencial says the choice upends the traditional ranking order of PSOE lists and excludes Bernabé from the regional list.

Approval steps and timetable

Provincial party committees are due to present the lists for the three Valencian provinces during the week of 12 October. The lists then go to a meeting of the PSPV executive before being sent to the PSOE in Madrid. Europa Press reports that the Valencian lists are expected to be approved at the PSPV federal committee on Saturday, 17 October, while El Mundo reports that local party groups will put forward names on Tuesday, 13 October, with approval on Wednesday, 14 October. ABC gives the candidacy filing window before the Provincial Electoral Boards as 21 to 26 October. ABC says the three names are confirmed, but the lists must still clear internal steps before they become official.

What happens to her government post

Bernabé must give up the government delegation to join the list. ABC reports that the resignation must come between the week of 12 October and the week of 19 October, before the formal filing. El Confidencial says she must leave the post before 29 November because the two roles are incompatible. El Confidencial adds that the seat gives her a place in Congress and special court privilege (aforamiento) for the longer campaign for the Valencia mayoralty. El Mundo says that without the delegation she could lose her main public platform after the general election.

Mayoral bid and municipal test

Bernabé remains the PSOE candidate for mayor of Valencia in the municipal elections of 23 May 2027, according to ABC, and La Razón reports that she keeps that candidacy. El Mundo says the list placement lets her start the mayoral campaign early, where she would face the incumbent mayor María José Catalá (PP), former Generalitat vice president Mónica Oltra (Compromís) and, probably, former vice president Vicente Barrera (Vox). El Mundo also reports that the Congress campaign gives Sánchez room to press the dana issue in Valencia against former regional president Carlos Mazón. El Confidencial calls the 29 November vote a plebiscite on Sánchez and a first test ahead of the municipal elections.

Background and a degree dispute

Bernabé has been government delegate since 28 June 2022, according to ABC, and was a Valencia city councillor from 2019 to 2022, according to La Vanguardia. In December 2024 she was elected PSOE secretary for Equality, a post that placed her fourth in the national leadership, according to ABC. La Vanguardia says that after the 2024 dana she became the government's most visible voice in Valencia, responding daily to the regional government led by Carlos Mazón. La Razón reports that the dana of 29 October 2024 killed 233 people in Valencia province. La Razón also reports that the PSOE said she held a double degree in Hispanic Philology and Audiovisual Communication, but that she had not finished her studies at the Universitat de València, and that she re-enrolled there in September to take the subjects she needs. La Razón gives her age as 47.