The Spanish right-wing party Vox has cancelled an interview by its leader Santiago Abascal with the podcaster Jordi Wild that was scheduled for 11 November. The decision follows a dispute over the editing of a TV interview Abascal gave two days earlier. Vox is demanding access to the full recording and setting conditions for future interviews.
Former Vox secretary-general Javier Ortega-Smith responded to the cancellation, according to the newspaper 20minutos, with the words: “Without fear of anything or anyone.” The newspaper sees this as an allusion to a similar remark by Abascal in February. At the time, the party leader said, in response to a question about his conflict with Ortega-Smith, that he feared nothing and no one.
Abascal appeared on 9 November on the programme La Revuelta on Spanish public-service television. Vox accuses the broadcaster and production company El Terrat of breaching agreements. According to the party, 40 minutes of the interview were not broadcast. It is demanding that the full recording be handed over or published. Vox also complains that it was unable to identify particularly important or less important parts of the interview itself.
The newspaper El País reported that the broadcaster declined to comment on Vox’s statement. The party’s allegations therefore do not establish that a contract was breached. Vox also said that Jordi Wild had not broken any agreement. Nevertheless, the party cancelled the recording of his interview with Abascal scheduled for Wednesday.
According to El País, Wild had planned to publish his interviews with several senior politicians in full and without subsequent edits on his channel. Also planned were interviews with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo and politician Ada Colau.
It was initially unclear whether the interview with Abascal would take place at a later date. The news site Artículo 14 reported a proposal by the Vox-aligned writer David Santos, under which the party team could record the interview itself or receive a full copy. According to the report, there had been no official confirmation of renewed negotiations or an agreement.
Ortega-Smith was one of Vox’s founders and served as secretary-general from 2016 to 2022. In April 2026, the party confirmed his expulsion, according to 20minutos, after rejecting an appeal. He reportedly took legal action against the decision. One cause of the dispute was his refusal to give up the role of spokesperson for the Vox group on the Madrid City Council .
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).