Appetite for Vox
Over the past decade, the far-right Vox party has grown from a fringe group to a major political force – and now to a plausible coalition partner in a national PP government.
Unlike the last national elections in Spain, Vox has a clear track record of working with the PP at local and regional levels. The two parties currently govern together in Extremadura, Aragon, Castile and León and Andalusia, and previously in Valencia and Murcia.
Within these governments, Vox successfully pressured the PP to adopt stricter migration policies and denounce European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s Green Deal. Some PP-Vox governments have also replaced policies on violence against women with a broader “intra-family” framework that mitigates the gender-specific nature of these crimes, and rolled back LGBTQ+ protections.
SURVEY OF THE NATIONAL PARLIAMENT OF SPAIN
For more polling data from across Europe, visit POLITICO Poll of Polls.
In 2023, Sánchez used the prospect of a PP-Vox government to encourage voters to support his candidacy, but it seems less likely that this strategy could have such an impact this time around. Vox has expanded its political representation in several elections over the past three years, suggesting the party may no longer carry the same electoral stigma.
But the PP will nevertheless have to exercise caution. Although his clearest path to power involves a coalition with Vox, saying so could turn off moderate voters. The worse the center-right party performs, the more power its possible far-right partners will have to determine policy.
Open wounds
Two unresolved issues could shake up the elections: Ceuta’s migration crisis and ongoing corruption cases involving members of Sánchez’s entourage.
Gn world
