The leader of Spain’s right-wing party Vox, Santiago Abascal, called at a campaign event in Almería for Spanish citizens to be given priority for state aid. Spaniards should have preferential access to Social benefits, rent support and nursery places he said on Saturday. In doing so, he defended the concept his party calls “national priority”.
According to a report by the Europa Press news agency, Abascal was responding to objections from the leader of the conservative People’s Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo. Vox stood in elections to make legal what is today described as illegal, Abascal reportedly said. He also called for strong turnout and warned his supporters against relying on opinion polls.
Both chambers of Spain’s national parliament are due to be re-elected on 29 November. The date was set by a royal decree published on 6 October. This is not an election for the parliament of the autonomous region of Andalusia. According to Europa Press, the event in Almería was Abascal’s first public appearance in Andalusia during the current campaign for the national election.
In an interview on Friday, Feijóo said that requiring citizenship as the sole condition for access to social assistance was currently illegal. Priorities had to be objective and lawful, the People’s Party leader said, according to a report by Público. His statement therefore concerned a sole citizenship criterion; it should not be taken as a comprehensive legal assessment of all possible priority rules.
According to the Europa Press report, Abascal also named economic deregulation and “remigration” as political priorities in Almería, alongside national priority. By the latter term, he meant that people without the right to reside, offenders and people receiving benefits without working should leave Spain. He also called for it to be made easier for young Spaniards who had emigrated to return.
The Socialist María Jesús Montero criticised Abascal’s visit to the province of Almería. According to Europa Press, she accused Vox of setting people against one another on the basis of their origins and of seeking confrontation with its call for national priority. Abascal’s proposals and Montero’s criticism are political positions; no specific new legislation has been passed as a result.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).