Spain’s right Vox party saw a surge in support in the country’s general
election, winning big after promising to crack down on independence
movements and get tough on immigrants.
Vox more than doubled its number of seats to become the third-biggest party
in Parliament. The party’s leader, Santiago Abascal, hailed the success as “the
greatest political feat seen in Spain.”
“Eleven months ago, we had no representation in any government institution,”
he told supporters on Sunday night. “Today we are the third political force in
Spain.”
The conservative Popular Party finished second on 87 seats (up from 66),
with Vox third with 52 seats, up from 24. The Socialist Party finished with
120 seats.
Vox’s sudden surge in support appears to be a response to the party’s hard-
line stance against secessionist movements, such as the push for
independence in Catalonia. The region has been seen violent clashes between
secessionist protesters and police in recent weeks, after courts handed
heavy jail sentences to the leaders of the failed 2017 independence bid.
Vox has advocated a policy of “recentralization” — rewriting Spain’s
constitution to scrap regional autonomy and parliaments. On the campaign
trail, Abascal pledged to outlaw separatist parties, send Catalan premier Quim
Torra to prison, and provide “the maximum legal protection for the symbols of
the nation, especially the flag, the anthem and the crown.”
The anti-Muslim, anti-feminist, and Euroskeptic party also campaigned heavily
on immigration issues, including blaming young male asylum-seekers for
violence. In a move from Donald Trump’s playbook, Abascal has called for a
border wall to be built around Spain’s exclaves in North Africa, Ceuta, and
Melilla. In true Trumpian fashion, Abascal claims that Morocco would pay for the wall.
https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/y...hy-thats-scary
Marine Le Pen, who heads France's National Rally party, congratulated
Abascal, saying it was impressive how his work 'is already bearing fruit after
only a few years.'
In Italy, Matteo Salvini of the right-wing League party tweeted a picture of
himself next to Abascal with the text 'Congratulations to Vox!' above Spanish
and Italian flags.
And in the Netherlands, anti-Islam Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders also posted
a picture of himself and Abascal and wrote 'FELICIDADES' - Spanish for
congratulations - with three thumbs-up emojis.
