Vox Launches Election Campaign With Rally in Madrid
Thousands of supporters gathered on Friday in Madrid under heavy rain and wind as Vox launched its electoral campaign for the November 29 general election, turning to an iconic backdrop for right-wing demonstrations against Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, according to rtve.es.
More than 2,000 people attended the rally in the Plaza de Colón beneath a sea of red-and-yellow flags, the party’s organization reported. Supporters chanted campaign slogans and listened to video messages of international support from figures including Argentina’s Javier Milei, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, rtve.es noted.
“What will happen on November 29 is not a normal thing, it is not just another election,” Santiago Abascal said, addressing the crowd as party leader.
“If in these we do not manage to get rid of the plague that governs, our country will probably suffer too much to be able to recover,” Abascal added.
The Madrid rally coincided with the publication of the party’s platform under the campaign slogan “It’s common sense,” detailing proposals across thirteen areas including security, immigration, taxation, and public services, according to VOX España. Vox outlined a policy of strict national priority that would restrict various social benefits and public services exclusively to Spanish nationals, ABC reported.
Under the proposed measures, the minimum vital income would be reserved exclusively for Spanish citizens with fewer resources, while undocumented immigrants would be barred from public healthcare except for severe emergencies, according to EL PAÍS. The platform also calls for excluding irregular immigrants from rental housing contracts by requiring proof of legal residence, ABC reported.
On education, the platform proposes setting maximum quotas for students from other cultures or with insufficient command of Spanish in each classroom, alongside specific leveling classes, according to EL PAÍS. LaSexta reported that the platform includes terms such as remigration, repatriation, and deportation, alongside proposals to dismantle existing gender violence laws and climate change regulations such as low-emission zones.
Abascal was joined on stage by senior regional figures, including party vice presidents Alejandro Nolasco from Aragon, Óscar Fernández from Extremadura, Carlos Pollán from Castile and León, and Manuel Gavira from Andalusia, alongside congressional spokesperson Pepa Millán and secretary-general Ignacio Garriga, rtve.es reported.
“Eight years later we are here not to denounce, but to bring hope to the Spanish people and say loud and clear that we are going to win on 29N,” Garriga told the crowd, recalling past demonstrations at the same plaza.
The Plaza de Colón holds symbolic value for the party, having hosted past joint rallies against the government alongside other political forces in 2019 and 2021, as well as solo demonstrations in 2023, according to rtve.es.
“What we have to do on November 29 is very little compared to what our grandparents did, which is to recover the homeland and freedom,” Abascal concluded as rain intensified over the gathering.