No Cordon Sanitaire in Spain

There is still a year to go before the general elections in Spain, but different regions of the country have already held their regional elections in recent months. The most recent ones, in Aragon and Extremadura, gave victory to the People's Party (PP), which has made a pact with the far-right party VOX in order to govern.

In both cases, VOX, which obtained 16.90% of the vote in Extremadura and 17.89% in Aragón, will form part of the regional government, after leaving, in 2024, other regional governments it had entered into with the PP. Thus, by supporting the PP to govern and exerting pressure from outside the institutions, it also managed to get the PP to accept all of its proposals in order to maintain its support. In this new phase, VOX has now decided to form part of the various PP governments, and this party has agreed to include in its governance all the demands of the far right, mainly what they have called "national priority" for access to services and benefits, excluding migrants.

Disinformation and hate against the left wing

Unlike other European countries, the Spanish right has never had a cordon sanitaire against the far right. Not only have they made pacts with it or included it in their governments since VOX arrived in the institutions in 2018, but they have also embarked on a competition for the most radical electorate, copying xenophobic and racist discourse and adopting increasingly radical positions in their political "performance": insults toward the left, use of disinformation, and financing and sponsorship of influencers and pseudo media outlets dedicated to political harassment and disinformation. One of the most well-known artifacts of this nature is the company Estado de Alarma (EDATV), whose reporters (mainly one named Vito Quiles) dedicate themselves to harassing left-wing politicians and journalists, even following them to their homes, accompanied by known neo-Nazis who act as bodyguards. This company has received nearly one million euros in public money from PP-led administrations. This has sparked a major debate in Spanish politics and media in recent months, as these agitators are even accredited as press in the Congress of Deputies.

"We must combat, even with violence, the moral aberration of abortion and euthanasia," declared VOX deputy Antonio Martínez Nieto in Murcia last April. Thus, with provocative statements, they manage to stay constantly in the media spotlight. With the same intention, the leader of VOX, Santiago Abascal, stepped down from the stage during a rally in Granada to confront a group of anti-fascists protesting at a certain distance, causing supporters of the far-right party to break through the police cordon and assault the anti-fascists. These performances are common in VOX and succeed in connecting with their most radical electorate while keeping them constantly at the center of political news.

Crisis within the VOX party

However, internally, VOX is suffering an unprecedented crisis, with the expulsion or resignation of several important party officials due to differences with the leadership. Some of these are even founders, such as Javier Ortega-Smith, who denounces the economic transfer from the party to companies and organizations affiliated with the current leadership. The rupture with Revuelta, a youth brand created by VOX members and promoted by the party, has also posed an image problem for the party, since money had been raised for those affected by the floods in Valencia in 2024, which never reached its intended recipients. Members of this organization leaked audios and conversations between party leaders and Revuelta members to several media outlets, showing negotiations before the news broke. According to Revuelta's claims, VOX intended to fully integrate this organization into the party and remove its leaders from command. Having failed to do so and facing legal action over the raised funds, the relationship was broken and VOX has invented a new similar artifact called Reconquista.

Another problem VOX faces with part of its electorate and some of its members is its stance on international policy. Mainly, due to its unconditional support for Donald Trump and Israel. The continuous threats and insults from US and Israeli leaders toward Spain over its stance on the genocide in Gaza and the aggression against Iran and Lebanon have positioned Spanish public opinion largely with the Government, or at least in opposition to both foreign governments, while mainly VOX, and more cautiously the PP, criticize Pedro Sánchez's position on these matters.

Voting intention for VOX remains around 16-17% for the elections scheduled for 2027, but there is another far-right party that is climbing positions very quickly: Aliança Catalana (AC), whose leader, Silvia Orriols, mayor of Ripoll, is achieving in Catalonia the same thing VOX achieved in Spain: contaminating the other parties (mainly the Catalan right of JuntsXCat and PP) with her xenophobic proposals (banning the burqa, "national priority," linking immigration with crime...) and with a voting intention reaching close to 20%, thus becoming the third force, behind PSC (PSOE) and ERC. Although it presented itself as an independence party, it has gradually abandoned this claim to focus basically on an Islamophobic, racist, and anti-leftist discourse.

Another important actor in the cultural and political battle of the far right in Spain, with international reach, is the ultraconservative lobby of foundations and organizations such as HazteOir and its international brand CitizenGo, as well as Political Network for Values (PNfV). These entities organize coordinated campaigns in several countries against sexual and reproductive rights, LGBTIQ+ rights, and everything they include in their anti-woke crusade. In Spain, HazteOir leads many of the political, media, and judicial campaigns against the Government. Although some members of these organizations are also PP and VOX candidates, some campaigns are aimed at pressuring these parties to include in their electoral programs measures against abortion, euthanasia, or the rights of LGBTIQ+ people.

Redaction: Susanne Brust, Translation: Andrea Dip