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The Ducal Palace fills up to hear the jurist reflect about the importance of democratic quality when facing the risks of authoritarian tendencies.
Gandia, 4 July 2025. Valencian magistrate Joaquim Bosch reflects, at the second session of “Gandia Pensa”, about the importance of democratic quality when facing the risks brought by authoritarian tendencies. Bosch maintained an interesting conversation with journalist Puri Naya in a Parade Ground of the Borja Ducal Palace full of attendees. The jurist strongly emphasised that the alternative to democracy is the abyss, “as it has been proven throughout History”.
We mustn’t forget that “Gandia Pensa” is an initiative promoted by the City Council of Gandia together with the Chair for Territorial Thinking Joan Noguera of the UV, the CEIC Alfons el Vell and the General Directorate of the Book of the Ministry of Culture. Àngels Gregori is the curator of the series. The goal is to strengthen the democratic and humanist values in the current context.
Bosch highlighted that the authoritarian rise on a global scale is symptom of discontent with democracy, “because when the citizens are satisfied with the institutions it is difficult for them to be willing to bet for disruptive anti-democratic alternatives. Thus, we must to evaluate in which aspects our democracy fails and how to improve it”. All in all, when facing the dangers of democratic decline, “we must strengthen the institutions, improve the functioning of the political parties so that they do not loose credibility and strengthen the mechanisms of social protection”.
This way, Gandia became once again a role model city for the defence of democratic values, after the success of the conference by philosopher Theodor Kallifatides, which took place on May.
Reception at the City Council
The Mayor of Gandia, José Manuel Prieto, received Joaquim Bosch in his office before the event where, in declarations to the media, highlighted that it is “an honour” to receive the magistrate, “a renowned person in the field of knowledge, dissemination task and an analyst of the current democratic state”. Therefore, Prieto said, “it is a pleasure” that Bosc takes part in this space for reflection and critical thinking that is “Gandia Pensa”: “a series that puts us at the forefront as a city full of agreements, consensus and looks that seeks to fight against the shadows of this time”.
At the same time, Bosch has given his thanks to the Mayor and the City Council for the invitation to take part in “Gandia Pensa” to make contributions of the dangers of the democratic system. In this sense he reflected about how, just some years ago, democracy seemed a stable and immovable political system, “but, regrettably, there are movements at a global scale showing us that democracy can decline; and this can affect even our own country”.
About Joaquim Bosch
Born in Cullera in 1965, Joaquim Bosch was the spokesperson of the organisation Jueces para la Democracia (Judges for Democracy) between 2012 and 2016. He has done researching and teaching activities as head and speaker of magistrates training courses within the national plan of the General Council of the Judiciary and the regional plan of the Valencian Department of Justice.
Since finishing his term as the spokesperson of Judges for Democracy in June 2016, he was later named territory spokesperson of Judges for Democracy in the Valencian Community.
He is the author of works such as El secuestro de la Justicia (jointly written with Ignacio Escolar) and La patria en la cartera. His last published work is Jaque a la Democracia. España ante la amenaza de la deriva autoritaria mundial.
