VOX; a “new” nationalist-populist party in Spanish politics.

Index

1.Introduction.

2. Populism and nationalism in VOX

Nationalism

Populism

3.Us vs them.

4.Conclusion

5.Bibliography

Introduction.

After the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, the presence of far-right

parties in the institutions was almost absent in the Spanish politics
until the appearance VOX. We need to wait until 2018, in the case of
Andalucia, and 2019, in the national parliament, to see the
appearance of a political party with these characteristics. Following
the trend of the “new” radical far-right parties in Europe, VOX
skyrocketed in political representation achieving one of the biggest
political milestones in the Spanish democracy coming from 0 to 24
deputies, that ended being 52 after the electoral repetition occurred
in 2019.

The political relevance of the party has raised many studies regarding
his ideology and discourse, despite this there is a lack of agreement
between scholars regarding the consideration of VOX as a populist
and national-populist party due to the evolution and shift of the
political strategy of the party in the recent years. This situation led to
misunderstanding on what the true content of the party is and how

In this paper the political program and discourse of VOX are going to
be analyzed looking at the factors that characterize nationalist-
populist parties, following the work of Prerna Singh (2021) as a guide
to understand the nationalist and populist features of VOX and if it
can take part of this categorization. Initially the work of David
Balinhas ( 2020) is going to be analyzed looking at the populist and
nationalist features of the party and which form do they take in
practice particularly focusing in the nationalist ones, which are
characterized by a strong conservativism and an essentialist
understanding of the nation. Consequently, the work of (Lerín Ibarra
D., 2024) is going to be studied looking more at the populist
characteristics of the party and the progressive switch towards
populist rhetoric that can be perceived in the discourse and political
strategy of VOX after the year 2020. Additionally, the boundary “us”
vs “them” is also presented analyzing the groups of population that
the party refers to the “us” and the “them” taking into account the
switch towards populism in the recent years which led to the
reconfiguration of this boundary with the existence of two different
types of “them” the political elites and the illegal migrants who are
subordinating the interests and needs of the “us”(“La España Viva”)
to the interest of “them”. To conclude, the scope is going to be set
again on the paper of Prerna Singh including the new populist rhetoric
used by the party to understand if VOX can make part of the
categorization of a nationalist populist party and why. This analysis is
going to be made looking at the previous categorization that David
Balinhas does on his academic paper disagreeing with the final
statements, especially due to the lack of evidence to consider the
party as nationalist-populist at the time he was doing his research and
the mentioned switch towards populism in the recent years.

Populism and nationalism in VOX

Nationalism

The Spanish nation is presented in the discourse as a natural reality,

that cannot be questioned. This pre-existing character of the nation is
a common characteristic among nationalisms both ethnic and civic.
The nation would constitute the main hierarchy, appealing to all its
people, no matter what their ideology is. People that what have in
common is their love for their country and its unity. Subordinating the
idea of nation to a very essentialist perspective, as well as ultra-
conservative. The nation declares itself defenseless against those who
want to “destroy” it, and the “people” that would have the task of
defending and protecting it. (Balinhas D., 2020). That is why the
colonial heritage of Spain and its people take importance in the
discourse. They present the narrative of the nation as good colonizer,
building universities and spreading Christianity and its culture all
along Latin America. Creating a shared space with people educated in
the same values and believing´s that helped for the development of
these countries and created what they call “Iberosfera”. VOX wants to
combat the attempts to erase Spanish legacy in Latin America and
the “Leyenda Negra” discourse.

Another historical milestone appears in their discourse supporting

some key arguments in their program, this is the case of the
“Reconquista”, the supposed reconquest of Spain against the mores.
In this case they claim about the national heroes and de figure of
“Don Pelayo” that “reconquered” Spain from the Muslims and its
degenerated culture. Despite been more present in the discourse at
the beginning of VOX in national politics, the figure of the
“Reconquista” serves as a great symbolism of the “Islamization”
problem that the party talks about. It is with this kind of symbolism
how it can be perceived that VOX's nationalistic discourse also
extends to its rigorous immigration policies. The party argues that
uncontrolled immigration presents a clear problem to Spanish cultural
cohesion and identity, presenting the traditional Christian Spanish
family under threat of the already mentioned “Islamization” process
and the “gender ideology”. VOX's proposals include stronger border
controls and policies aimed to make sure that immigrants assimilate
into Spanish culture, which they frame as protecting the national
character of Spain. The use of this foundational myths such as the
reconquest or the emphasis in Latin America as space to expand the
culture and politics of Spain can also be considered part of the
conservative Spanish nationalism joining the essentialist
understanding on what the Spanish nation is.

Populism

The consideration of VOX as populist has been a debated topic in the

academia since the appearance of the party in the national
parliament. One of the major reasons for his disagreement is that
VOX's political discourse has evolved significantly in terms of its
populist elements, becoming more explicit after 2020. Initially, VOX
did not openly show populist characteristics, VOX's populist elements
were mostly implicit, subordinated to the nationalist rhetoric. The
party was focused on issues like national unity, immigration control,
and traditional values, which served to attract people who were
disaffected with the actual state of Spanish politics. Although, VOX did
not use populist rhetoric to challenge the liberal democracy itself or
present the party as an outsider of the political system. This period
was marked by a progressive approach to populist appeals,
references to " El pueblo" (the people) appeared sporadically, mostly
linked to national sovereignty and Spain's unity, sometimes relating it
with immigration. However, the party's focus remained on nationalist
themes, with a clear appeal to ethnic nationalism and criticizing
globalism and European elites, without openly saying that Spain
should exit from the EU. (Lerín Ibarra D., 2024). It is after 2020 that a
pivotal shift in Vox's strategy appears. This shift was influenced by
electoral successes and a strategic reorientation to capture working-
class voters, a part of the population in which their political message
was not directed implicitly. This shift was characterized by the use of
more explicit populist appeals present in their media and
communication strategies. This can be seen in examples such as the
“Obrero Español” video campaign of 2020 which main intention was
to call the attention of the Spanish workers in the agricultural and
industrial sectors that were not satisfied with the left-wing
government. The creation of the union “Solidaridad” also takes an
important part in this collection of votes from the workers, this union
pretended to delete the difference between the workers and the
businessman to achieve a common cause, that now is not the social
class is the nation.

This switch towards populism is also perceived in the manners and

discourse of the members of the party such as Santiago Abascal, the
president of VOX. Particularly after 2020 he started using a more open
populist rhetoric, criticizing directly the actual political institutions and
categorizing the government as illegitimate and traitor. His style also
started to include more emotional appeals presenting himself and his
family as victims that suffered the consequences of defending the
unity and tradition of Spain in the Vasque Country when ETA was
active. This rhetoric is also present in most populist leaders around
the world, including direct appeals to the “people” against the elite
and an abundance of emotional appeals in their discourse. In the case
of VOX this elite relates to the corrupt political elites that have been
destroying Spain and its workers advocating for multiculturalism,
globalism and decentralization. They accuse these parties and
politicians for being the main cause of the problems that the country
is facing setting the interests and needs of the Spanish “people” to a
side.

It is important to note that VOX does not critique the system of

representative democracy and parliamentary monarchy itself, it
criticizes the actual state of the Spanish politics and their political
leaders, blaming against the profligacy of the State of Autonomous
Communities and the left and independentist parties that promote it.
The party appeals for an absolute reconfiguration of the State
apparatus, not escaping from the neo-liberal framework, with
important modifications such as the centralization of the
competences that are now administrated in the different regions in
Madrid creating a centralized State that will end with the autonomic
privileges. However, as it was already mentioned they do not go
against the hole system and their institutions, they criticize in what
they have become. A clear example of their respect for the system is
shown in their admiration for the King and the monarchy considering
them as a central figure of Spanish heritage and politics also showed
in their praise towards the forces and corps of security of the State
such as the military, the Guardia Civil or the National Police.

The rude manners and personal narratives are not only present in the
discourse of the president of the party, but also used in their social
media strategy. This populist rhetoric is also present in their political
message on the social networks, despising the mainstream media and
the work of its professionals, who are identified as part of the
establishment and the oligarchies. They promote the use of
alternative ways of media communication such as Telegram groups or
ideologically aligned influencers who do not make part of this
establishment.

us VS them

Right after the appearance of VOX in the parliament some signs of

polarization start to appear in the field, specially looking at the PP, the
center-right mass party. The appearance of a new party with a more
radical discourse in the right spectrum, and the bad results obtained
in this election started to spread the rumor of an actual crisis in the
PP. This situation led to a turn to the right of the party trying to attract
the voters of VOX that were looking for a more radical discourse,
being clear and emotional about the problems that Spain was
surpassing at this time (P.E 1 of October in Catalunya). It is specially
after this moment that we see the appropriation by VOX, of the
national symbols, focusing particularly on the Spanish flag. The
confrontation between the “us” (“La España Viva”) and the “them”,
(“The enemies of Spain”). This confrontation takes a particular form in
the Spanish case, it is not only referred to the Spanish tradition and
nationalism, but ideology also matters. This confrontation creates the
moral community of the “us”, the “España Viva”, that is represented
by all the Spanish good men and women, that are honest and believe
in the unity of Spain. They are the underdogs of society, always giving
more than they receive, people who had no political representation,
that have seen their socio-economic position worsened due to the
incompetence and thirst of power of the political elites. In this case
the “España Viva” also refers to the identity and tradition of Spain,
that is also been threatened by “Islamization” and “multiculturalism”.
In this case the argument lays on the protection of the sovereignty
and uniqueness of the Spanish State and culture, evading the “failed”
attempts of multicultural communities in countries like France or the
UK.

On the other side we have the “them”, the “Enemies of Spain”, the
criminals that are leading Spain to the misery. In this case we easily
differentiate two different types of “them”: On the one hand, the
political elites, and in the other the mass of illegal migrants. Despite
arguing that one is a consequence of the other, politicians not
defending Spanish borders, VOX articulates its discourse in this two
different “them”. First the political elites that are leading to the
deconfiguration of the nation, creating borders and privileges within
the different regions of the country that is the base of confrontation.
And then, the figure of the illegal migrant as a criminal that cannot
adapt to the Spanish culture and tradition and that is only there to
receive social subsidies and raise the insecurity in the Spanish
neighborhoods, mostly represented in their discourse as a North
African Muslim. This configuration also creates confrontation between
migrants, giving certain status for the ones coming by the legal way
from the “Iberosfera”. It is not only a matter of the insider-outsider
logic that is also present in the discourse, there are different grades.

VOX's construction of “us” and “them” is essential for understanding

if their identity is built on vertical antagonism (the people as “the
lower classes”) or horizontal antagonism (the people in an ethno-
cultural sense). The core of VOX's identity is the nation, conceived as
a pre-existing entity forged through a unique history. The nation,
“Spain” acts as a primary signifier, shaping the meanings of other
political concepts. (Balinhas,D 2020). It is after 2020 that the populist
features of the party start to become a more evident part of the
discourse and to be present in the configuration of the us vs them
boundary with the progressive appeal to the people from the lower
classes. The need to capture the workers and lower-income classes
led to a switch in the communication strategy presenting the “people”
as the underdogs of Spain confronting their interest with the ones of
the political elites. Spain continues to be the main signifier of their
political strategy but, following the trend of other right-wing
politicians such as Donald Trump, other factors started to gain
importance. That is why after 2020 it can be more precisely perceived
the two dimensions that the boundary “them” takes in the discourse
of VOX. This phenomenon can be clearly perceived in the banners
used for the 4M elections in the Community of Madrid in 2021 where
it is shown how an old woman can be receiving only around 400 euros
for its pension, while the MENAs (Not accompanied minor) costs to the
State more than 4000 euros a month. The message behind this
banner reflects this new orientation of the party towards a more direct
and populist way of communication presenting how the illegal
immigrants are a real threat for the Spanish society, not only for not
adapting to the cultural but also for the costs that they create for
Spain. Also criticizing the role that the political “elites” have for this
situation to happen, incentivizing the illegal immigrants to come to
the country instead of serving the “people” represented in this case
under the figure of a grandmother that can barely make ends meet.

Conclusion

As it has been shown all along this paper, VOX is a party that reunites
many features from both nationalism and populism. Defense of the
tradition and history of Spain and its unity, manifesting an essentialist
and ultra conservative understanding of the nation; the rude manners
in the discourse and the anti-elite rhetoric are just some of the
examples that can be find looking at the program and at some public
appearances of their members. It is important to note that despite
being usually put in the same basket they are not the same, and it is
sometimes difficult to make sure whether a party is populist or
nationalist populist, specially because it is almost impossible to hear
the leaders of these parties proclaiming themselves populist. That is
why to find out what nationalist populism is we need to look at their
interconnections and what form do they take in practice.

According to Prerna Singh (2021), nationalist populism involves the

explicit framing of "us" as the hardworking underdogs and fellow
nationals, and "them" as elites and non-nationals. This framework is
clearly present in the discourse and program of VOX presenting the
"us" (“La España Viva”) as hardworking Spanish people defending the
unity of Spain and its tradition who supposedly had no political
representation before, against "them" (corrupt political elites and non-
nationals) who are destroying what Spain truly is with multiculturalism
and de-centralization. It is important to note that this configuration of
“them” takes a particular form in the case of VOX, as there are
different grades of non-nationals. They prefer legal migrants from the
“Iberosfera” to come to Spain than the ones who come from north
Africa creating differences and status within migrants. This can be
also categorized as a case of inclusive nationalist populism as they
include some minorities with shared culture and language, inviting
them to take part in “La España Viva”.

Another feature that categorizes VOX as nationalist populist party

refers more to their communication strategy. The use of nationalist
and populist rhetoric in their discourse is one of the main
characteristics of the party, particularly after 2020. They use
nationalism as a tool of legitimization of their ideology trying to
connect people to their history and culture exalting the past and its
national heroes, they mix this affective power of nationalism with the
moral frame of populism creating an increasing sense of threat from
outsiders. This mix of nationalism and populism in their discourse is
accompanied using rude and loud manners in almost every public
appearance, particularly in the mouth of Santiago Abascal. This switch
towards populism after 2020 can be considered as one of the main
reasons why some scholars, such as David Balinhas, do not openly
include VOX in the populist framework as this new tendency started to
show up after the release of their academic research. This new focus
on populist rhetoric needs to be analyzed and included in the
configuration of the boundary “us vs them” that the party formulates
with a major presence of the anti-elitist rhetoric and direct criticism
towards the actual establishment of the Spanish politics. The
nationalist and essentialist perception of the nation, despite
continuing to be the cornerstone of VOX´s ideology, is giving more
space to other claims in the discourse such us the deprotection of the
Spanish workers and low-income classes to capture the votes of these
groups of the population that were not directly included in the political
message of the party before. What VOX did is not more than what
other far-right wing parties were already doing in Europe, it is a
matter of following the trend of using populist rhetoric to get the
message across the entire population, a strategy that has been
proven to be very successful.

Once examining these new recent features in the discourse of VOX

and adding them to the analysis of the party as nationalist populist, it
can be perceived that VOX has been progressively approaching this
categorization in the last years. The initial VOX’s nationalism that
included implicit populist undertones, has been slightly adopting a
more pronounced populist rhetoric. This shift involves a strategic
appeal to the working class, a more open critique of political elites,
and the use of emotional and historical narratives to support the
national identity. These developments, combined with their
conservative nationalist core and the reconfiguration on who
represents the “us” and the “them” in their political message,
consolidate VOX's position as a nationalist populist party in the actual
Spanish politics.

Bibliography

Prerna Singh (2021); Populism, Nationalism and Nationalist Populism,

VOX (2023) Un programa para lo que importa. Programa electoral

para las Elecciones Generales del 23J de 2023

Balinhas, Daniel. (2020). Populismo y nacionalismo en la "nueva"

derecha radical española.

Lerín Ibarra, D. (2024). Cambios en la estrategia política de Vox tras

su irrupción electoral: populismo y búsqueda del voto obrero.
Disjuntiva, 5 (1), 27-42.
https://doi.org/10.14198/DISJUNTIVA2024.5.1.2