VOX leader Santiago Abascal has accused the Spanish government of being ‘willing to lie and kill’ as he kicked off his electoral campaign ahead of November’s general election.
Speaking at a rally in Estepona on Sunday, the hard-right populist urged voters not to cast their ballots by post on November 29, suggesting prime minister Pedro Sanchez could use the opportunity to rig the election.
He also warned that Sanchez’s ‘militias’ would soon launch a ‘violent campaign’, branding the socialist PM the ‘direct culprit of everything that is going on in Spain.’
“[Sanchez] is absolutely willing to do anything: to lie and to kill,” Abascal said. “We are not exaggerating in the slightest.”
“Vox isn’t going to destroy anything – it’s going to bring everything back and make Spain a happy, prosperous country with a future again,” he added, describing Sanchez’s government as ‘the dirtiest in Spain’s history’.
The rally on the Costa del Sol, which Vox said drew around 1,500 people, marked Abascal’s first public appearance before supporters since Sanchez called a snap election on Monday last week.
The socialist PM’s decision came amid mounting social and political tensions over Spain’s ongoing housing crisis, with large-scale protests now sweeping the country for more than two weeks.
READ MORE: Political round-up: Maricarmen’s death puts Spain’s housing crisis at the heart of election campaign
During Sunday’s rally, Abascal blamed Sanchez for both the housing emergency and the ongoing migrant crisis in Ceuta, which followed the mass crossing of more than 70,000 people from Morocco into the Spanish enclave on July 30 and 31.
Abascal also criticised a general strike scheduled for November 11, describing the organising trade unions as ‘a syndicate of crime.’
He was joined by Vox politician Manuel Gavira, currently Andalucia’s second vice-president, who echoed his attacks on the government by accusing PSOE officials of being ‘vultures, scavengers, thieves and sex-pests’.
Abascal is now set to continue his campaign in Ceuta, seeking to capitalise on public concerns over housing and migration ahead of next month’s vote.
READ MORE: Spain’s right leads in polls as Vox support surges before November election
Support for Vox has grown steadily in opinion polls since 2023, with the far-right group reaching a party-record of 18.9% in a recent survey.
The result suggests Vox could win as many as 66 seats in parliament, potentially paving the way for a right-wing coalition government after the election.
Vox has built its electoral manifesto around three policies: remigration, administrative deregulation and its signature ‘national priority’ plan.
The first consists of repatriating illegal immigrants and tightening migration rules, while the second aims to cut bureaucracy and simplify regulations.
Under its ‘national priority’ plan, Vox wants Spaniards to receive preferential access to public services, housing and social benefits over foreign nationals, particularly immigrants, arguing that public resources should prioritise Spanish citizens.
The proposals have drawn criticism from human rights groups and political opponents, with Amnesty International warning in July that Vox’s national priority policy could violate human rights and increase racism and xenophobia.
Housing minister Isabel Rodriguez also dismissed the party’s proposal to prioritise Spaniards for public housing and assistance, condemning it as ‘racist and indecent.’
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