- Title: EU elections: Spain's far-right party Vox takes European stage
- Date: 20th May 2019
- Summary: MADRID, SPAIN (RECENT - MAY 10, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** ABASCAL AND HEAD OF THE VOX LIST FOR THE EUROPEAN ELECTION JORGE BUXADE ARRIVING FOR THE PRESENTATION OF VOX CANDIDATES TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LEADER OF FAR-RIGHT PARTY VOX, SANTIAGO ABASCAL, SAYING: "Vox is the first party after many years of democracy that runs in the European election to present a debate over the model of the European Union and will put on the table everything related to national sovereignty, defence of our borders and mass migration." ABASCAL AND BUXADE POSING WITH VOX EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CANDIDATES BUXADE ABASCAL AND BUXADE CANDIDATES AT TABLE IN CONFERENCE ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VOX EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEAD CANDIDATE, JORGE, BUXADE, SAYING: "We don't want a Europe where Brussels decide how people enter our territory, in what condition and how many should enter. What we want within the idea of sovereign nations that cooperate freely, is for Europe to respect our migration policy, our immigration law and for the other nations to cooperate freely and voluntarily in the border defence. For us, issues related to security and immigration are the main problems the European Union faces." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VOX EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEAD CANDIDATE, JORGE, BUXADE, SAYING: "Rigourous control of radical Salafism and islamist fundamentalism which puts at risk the very security of Europe as a civilisation must be carried out by all EU institutions which must support states with their decisions." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VOX EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEAD CANDIDATE, JORGE, BUXADE, SAYING: "We will not accept that the European parliament and EU institutions remain in that false social-democratic consensus or the imposition on European institutions, which we are unfortunately experiencing, of gender ideology and radical, anti-male feminism." MADRID, SPAIN (RECENT - MAY 17, 2019) (REUTERS) PROFESSOR OF SPANISH HISTORY AT NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY ALEJANDRO QUIROGA AT INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PROFESSOR OF SPANISH HISTORY AT NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY, ALEJANDRO QUIROGA, SAYING: "In terms of immigration, it has been part of their political discourse, but we have to keep in mind that unlike Italy, France, or recently Hungary and the Czech Republic, the anti-immigration discourse is not very popular in Spain. So, they are working on that but it's still a fairly feeble issue in political terms. It doesn't carry much water actually as an argument in Spanish politics nowadays. So essentially it is nationalism which is very basic and built on antis: anti-Muslim, anti-immigration, anti-women, anti-gay." MADRID, SPAIN (RECENT - MAY 15, 2019) (REUTERS) PEOPLE HAVING PICNICS IN A MADRID PARK DURING THE CELEBRATION OF MADRID'S PATRON SAINT SAN ISIDRO WOMEN SEATED EATING, SOME DRESSED IN TRADITIONAL MADRID "CHULAPA" ATTIRE WOMEN DRESSED IN "CHULAPA" ATTIRE WALKING PAST AS PEOPLE IN REGULAR CLOTHING LOOK AT STALLS IN THE BACKGROUND (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PENSIONER, FEDERICO, SAYING: "Well, it is kind of like the spread of the measles that European politics has bear because it resurfaces now and again. But, I don't think they will get anywhere with those guidelines they are following." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MUSIC PRODUCER, PAULA VELASCO, SAYING: "I think that when there is economic decline or people have many frustrations, someone comes along and sells the discourse that migrants are taking the money away from us, when actually migrants have always provided a workforce for our country and rejuvenated Spain's (ageing) population. So to be against the people who have helped us throughout the years and have helped us achieve what this country is to an extent, it's absurd, I think. We are throwing firewood at ourselves." VARIOUS OF WOMEN DRESSED IN "CHULAPA" ATTIRE SERVING A TRADITIONAL MADRID DISH CALLED "COCIDO MADRILENO" WOMAN WEARING A MAN'S "CHULAPO" FLAT CAP AND VEST WITH A CARNATION IN HER HAIR DOG WITH A CARNATION ON COLLAR "CHULAPAS" WALKING PAST USING HAND FANS CROWD WALKING DOWN PATH IN PARK DURING THE SAN ISIDRO FIESTA
- Embargoed: 3rd June 2019 10:46
- Keywords: Vox far-righ far-right party Vox Spain Spanish far-righ Santiago Abascal European election Jorge Buxade
- Location: MADRID, SPAIN
- City: MADRID, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA008AFPFLMV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Residents of Madrid turned out in droves to celebrate their patron saint San Isidro on May 15, but with imminent European and local election on May 26, political parties took the opportunity to pitch their policies as women and men decked out in traditional attire celebrated a centuries old tradition in a park named after the patron saint himself.
Joining the trend of emerging far-right parties in Europe, Spain's new party Vox led by a former member of the conservative People's Party is expected to win its first representatives in the European parliament after getting seats in the national parliament for the first time in the April 28 general election.
A GAD3 poll published by the ABC newspaper on May 13 predicted 7.8% of the vote for Vox which would get them five seats in the European assembly.
Riding on the tide of nationalist feelings triggered by Catalonia's independence drive, party leader Santiago Abascal has described Vox's gains as a 'reconquest' and has vowed to defend Spain's national sovereignty in Europe and its borders from mass migration.
Vox was established in 2013 as an anti-immigration party that also opposes giving more autonomy to Spain's regions. It favours reducing taxes and has benefited from Europe's rise of far-right parties, but unlike other countries in Europe, the anti-immigration discourse has not captured much support amongst Spanish voters.
"It's still a fairly feeble issue in political terms. It doesn't carry much water actually as an argument in Spanish politics nowadays. So essentially it is nationalism which is very basic and built on antis: anti-muslim, anti-immigration, anti-women, anti-gay," Alejandro Quiroga, a professor of Spanish history at Newcastle University said.
In December Vox upended Spanish politics when it won 12 seats in an election in the region of Andalusia, the first electoral victory for the far-right since Spain returned to democracy in the late 1970s.
In April it went from zero to 24 seats in the national parliament championing Spanish unity it is electoral platform and, while it is careful to distance itself from the ideology of late Dictator Francisco Franco, Vox's signature policies include repealing laws banning Franco-era symbols and on gender-based violence, and shifting power away from Spain's regional governments.
Spain's Socialists, which won the national election on April 28 without a parliamentary majority, were seen by the GAD3 poll as winning 20 seats in the upcoming election, or 30.3% of the vote. That would be six more seats than in the 2014 EU election.
PP would be second, but with its number of seats dropping from 16 to 12, after it lost more than half its seats in the national election. The center-right Ciudadanos would see its number of lawmakers jump from 2 to 10.
(Production: Silvio Castellanos, Marco Trujillo, Catherine Macdonald, Miguel Gutierrez) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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