Spain Set To Join Growing List of European Nations Veering Right in the Polls

Add Spain to the growing list of European countries that are shifting to the right politically. Following Italy, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, and others, a far-right Spanish party, Vox, and an allied moderate party, the Popular Party, are inching their way to victory in next month’s national election.The Popular Party dominated municipal and regional elections last month, capturing 31.5 percent of the votes compared to the governing Socialist Workers’ Party’s 12.28 percent. To secure an absolute majority in some of the cities, the Popular Party and Vox allied, anticipating that after the general elections, the far-right party’s president, Santiago Abascal, a critic of President Biden, could have a place in government. President Sanchez of the Socialist party decided to call an early general election on July 23 following his party’s disappointing showing in those municipal and regional elections. To overcome his party’s weaknesses, Mr. Sanchez is hoping to suppress right wing alliances and accelerate deals with smaller left-wing parties, according to Spanish political analysts.The Popular Party candidate, Alberto Nuñez Feijoo, is leading in polls. If elected, he will likely coalesce with Vox.Mr. Sanchez has cordial relations with President Biden, while his far-right opponents are critical of climate-related laws that are a mainstay of the American Democratic agenda. Vox is endorsed by President Trump, who finds kinship in the right wing party’s approach to immigration. The Popular Party has an “important advantage” ahead of the elections, a professor of Communication and International Politics at the European University of Madrid, José María Peredo Pombo, tells the Sun. There’s not only been a shift to the Popular Party, but also toward Vox, Mr. Peredo Pombo adds. The Popular Party and Vox share similar positions on issues such as antipathy to governmental pacts with leftist nationalists parties, including EH Bildu, a political wing of the Basque separatist group ETA. Officials from both parties this week signed a proposal to eliminate a Madrid law favoring transgender people. Among other provisions, the law provides easier access to sex changing medical treatment. The two parties, however, differ on such issues as feminism and immigration. Vox proposes to “make Spain great again” and has received the support of right-wing figures such as Mr. Trump and Prime Minister Meloni of Italy. It seeks to abolish laws against gender violence, claiming it discriminates against only one of the sexes — males. The party also plans to “control immigration flows” and deport illegal immigrants. Often accused of Islamophobia, Vox promotes the closures of fundamentalist mosques to “regain control of our borders” and to “arrest and deport extremist imams.” It opposes adding Turkey to the European Union and promotes the elimination of laws related to climate change.In contrast, Mr. Sanchez met with President Biden in Washington last month. They discussed establishing migration hubs in Latin America where asylum seekers could apply for asylum. In these hubs, migrants will be able to apply to enter America, Canada, or Spain. The two leaders also talked about the war in Ukraine, in which they reinforced their stance on providing humanitarian assistance to Kyiv and continuing to impose economic sanctions on Moscow. Mr. Sanchez also joined the Net Zero Government Initiative, committing to net zero emissions in government operations by 2050.The leader of the Vox party, Santiago Abascal, meanwhile, has often sided with Mr. Trump and expressed his discomfort with Mr. Biden. “Whatever the outcome of the American elections, once again we can see the ignorance and manipulation of the media, political scientists, pollsters and opinion makers,” Mr. Abascal tweeted in November 2020. “Once again their lies have been exposed. Trump can feel like a winner, for continuing to stand against everyone.” In August 2020, after the Taliban recaptured Afghanistan, Mr. Abascal said the invasion was a “terrible defeat” for Mr. Biden, the United Nations, and the European Union, and a “triumph” for Communist China. On another occasion, Mr. Abascal criticized Mr. Biden over Columbus Day comments by the president about the “grievances and atrocities” European explorers committed against indigenous tribes. “The unfortunate president of the United States has just said… well, he hasn’t said anything because it is difficult for him to say one word after another,” Mr. Abascal said, “but he has just attacked the great work of Hispanicism, of evangelization.” Amid some alliances with Vox after the regional and municipal elections, Mr. Nuñez Feijoo’s Popular Party is governing 32 of the 52 provincial capitals, including seven out of 10 of Spain’s biggest cities — Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla, Zaragoza, Malaga, Murcia, and Palma.Mr. Sanchez is hammering at the prospect of a Popular Party-Vox coalition. “A few months ago, a European leader told me the Spanish election is very important because if things swing towards a PP-Vox government, the balances within Europe will be upset,” Mr. Sanchez told El País on Sunday.“There’s something that is more dangerous than Vox, and that’s having a PP that assumes the policies and postures of Vox. And that’s what we’re seeing: denialism when it comes to social, political, and scientific consensus,” Mr. Sanchez added. In reality, it’s difficult to predict the internal dynamics in an alliance between the Popular Party and Vox, Mr. Peredo Pombo says. “In my opinion, there is no possibility of a coalition government. But collaboration is very likely,” he adds.The Popular Party would win the elections with 33 percent of the votes and with 136 seats in Congress, according to a 40db poll, conducted for the newspaper El Pais. Currently, the party commands only 47 seats. The Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party would receive 27.4 percent of the votes and lose 14 seats in Congress, leaving it with just 106 seats. Vox is third in the poll, with 13.8 percent of the votes.

Spain Set To Join Growing List of European Nations Veering Right in the Polls

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