After its July 23 national elections, Spain could be partially governed by a far-right party for the first time in generations.
It’s a development that would be significant both for Spain — and the rest of Europe. Domestically, it would mean that Vox, the country’s hard-right party, could help influence policy, advancing harsh attacks on LGBTQ people, women, and migrants. Broadly, it would also send a message outside Spanish borders, adding to the victories of the far right in places like Greece, Finland, and Italy in the last year.
Ever since the demise of the ultranationalist dictatorship of Francisco Franco in the 1970s, Spanish voters have been hesitant to give the far right federal power. That this could change in the coming elections signals how much ground the movement has gained in Spain and elsewhere.
According to polls, the July 23 elections are likely to see unpopular center-left Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez voted out and a new conservative coalition government voted in. While the center-right Partido Popular (PP) — home to Spain’s traditional conservatives — is set to win the most legislative seats, it’s not poised to get enough to secure the outright majority needed to form a government. As a result, it will likely need the help of Vox, and the seats that the hard-right party is able to secure, in order to set up a coalition.
That puts Vox in the position of becoming PP’s “junior partner” in government, a role that will give it influence over key leadership positions in the administration and a much bigger platform to tout hard-line immigration policies as well as misogynistic and homophobic views.
“If the party were to enter into government as a junior partner to … PP, I would expect the party to push the government toward the right on a whole host of issues, including social justice, gay rights, and gender parity,” Omar Encarnación, a Bard politics professor who studies Spain, told Vox.
What is Vox (Spain’s…
Read the full article here