Andalusia was the gateway for Vox into the institutions in 2018. Santiago Abascal’s party obtained 12 seats and was able to influence the Popular Party in its first contact with power in that community. It was the prelude to the far-right’s breakthrough in the Congress of Deputies just a few months later. This time, Spain’s most populous region puts the finishing touch on an electoral cycle designed by the PP, with an eye on the general elections – theoretically scheduled for next year – to wear down the PSOE and Pedro Sánchez’s government, from which the Populars, more dependent on Vox – national priority in place – have come out worse off. They remain at the mercy of the ultranationalists; also in Andalusia, where since 2022 the firewall of Juanma Moreno Bonilla’s Andalusian route operated, who lost the absolute majority this Sunday.
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In Andalusia, Vox will again be decisive and will hold the key that opens the doors of San Telmo, a venue where they intend to introduce national priority, which with an anthem composed for the occasion was played at the Vox headquarters during election night. Its occupant, however, is the most moderate Popular baron and already warned at rallies that he did not want to get into trouble.
The threat faced by Abascal’s group was to become irrelevant again in Parliament despite improving their results. Manuel Gavira, who raised the flag of dialogue with the Populars during the campaign and made it clear that he aspired to influence the formation of the next Andalusian government with national priority as a calling card, has added another seat to his party’s tally. They now have 15, with nearly 14% of the votes and a slight increase in percentage despite the rise in turnout.
Vox’s candidate for the presidency of the Andalusian Junta has assured that he “will not disappoint” his voters in his speech, with 98% of the votes already counted. “We will be up to the task and we will defend every single vote,” emphasized Gavira, who demanded that the PP “listen to the Andalusians.” “They have spoken clearly and told the Government what they want, which is national priority,” the leader concluded.
“More countryside, more agriculture, more livestock, and more fishing; we will return more security and prosperity to the neighborhoods and streets of Andalusia,” Gavira proclaimed afterwards, asserting that in the coming months “there will be a change of course” and implying that they will demand a coalition government. His fellow party members, just before the formal congratulations, chanted asking the PP about the majority.
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Abascal celebrates that his party is decisive after the four elections designed by the PP as a battering ram against Sánchez
Abascal, in turn, has emphasized from Madrid that Gavira is “the great winner of these elections” and described his result as an “unprecedented success.” “Against all odds, he has once again made Vox decisive for the fourth time in the last regional elections held in Spain,” celebrated the organization’s president. “We trust that Mr. Juan Manuel Moreno will also listen to those more than half a million Andalusians (…) who believe in national priority in access to public housing, social aid, or nurseries,” concluded the organization’s president.
Abascal’s formation in 2022, led by Macarena Olona, already improved its numbers, but then it was in vain because Moreno Bonilla had an absolute majority. This time Vox has dodged that bullet. Thus, the push of the ultranationalists in Extremadura, Aragon, and Castilla y León – in the latter community moderated but still decisive – remains strong. So much so that in Almería – El Ejido is its stronghold – the party has climbed to second place.
This scenario also gives wings to Vox in Castilla y León, in the ongoing negotiation with Alfonso Fernández Mañueco’s PP.
