The countries ruling socialists won the most votes but fell short of a majority in Sunday’s snap general election. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez warned the electorate not to vote for Vox in the European Elections in a series of tweets last Thursday. He said: “No one thought that Trump would be president in the US, nor Bolsonaro in Brazil.”
He added: “And people reckoned Brexit wouldn’t happen either.
“A vote for the PSOE (Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Workers’ party) is the difference between a Spain that looks towards the future and a Spain that slides back 40 years.
“No one should stay home on Sunday!”
Vox performed slightly below expectations, but has still managed to become the first far-right grouping to win more than a single seat in congress since Spain returned to democracy after the death of General Franco in 1975.
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The party’s leader, Santiago Abascal, said Vox had lived up to its promise to begin what he called “a reconquest of Spain” a reference to the long campaign against Moorish rule, which concluded in 1492 and culminated in the expulsion of Spain’s Jews.
Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Workers’ party won 123 seats, the conservative People’s party (PP) 66, the centre-right Citizens party 57, the anti-austerity Unidas Podemos and its allies 42, and Vox 24.
Mr Sánchez hailed the result and the high turnout as proof of Spain’s desire to move forward and reject the reactionary policies of some of his rightwing opponents.
The territorial crisis with Catalonia has also fuelled the emergence of Vox.
Until last year it was a fringe party without the support to win seats in congress.
That changed last December when it exceeded expectations, picking up 12 seats in the Andalucían regional election.
Vox’s uncompromising stance on Catalonia, which includes proposals to ban pro-independence parties, has helped it build momentum, as have its attacks on feminism and what it describes as political correctness.
The party has succeeded in shaping the political agenda in recent months as the Spanish right continues to fragment.