From zero to 24 seats in five years: Vox joins the Spanish Parliament

From zero to 24 seats in five years. The far right Spain celebrated Sunday with a rain of green confetti its entry to the Congress of Deputies for the first time since the 1980s.

In general elections, the third in four years, Vox has achieved its best result so far: 24 deputiesmaking it the fifth most voted force in the country.

Founded at the end of 2013, Vox won 12 seats in the Andalusian Parliament, a southern region of the country, during its first major election campaign in December 2018, which earned him to be named senator by this chamber. Until then,u Participation in the national policy was residual: in the general elections of June 2016, it collected 47 182 votes, or 0.2% of the electorate.

The situation was very different this time. The ultranationalist party received the support of more than 2.6 million Spaniards, or 10.2% of the ballots cast.

This is how the composition of the Congress seats was left. (If you do not see the graph, click here).

However, the fact that some polls have suggested that Vox could approach the 40 deputies and the great badiduity in their electoral acts, with overflowing pavilions, They had created higher expectations.

"I was expecting a better result, but I am very happy because it is the first time that my principles and values ​​will be heard in Congress, the first time in my life", said Marta De Alfonso, a 52-year-old Madrid pharmacist who, until now, had always voted for the People's Party, the big loser of election day.

Even then, the leaders of this party have been triumphalist and have highlighted the success of entering Congress with two dozen parliamentarians.

Between songs of "Spain, United, will never be defeated!", its president and its candidate, Santiago Abascal, he said: "We told you that we were starting a reconquest, and that's exactly what we did, we told you that Vox was here to stay."

In his speech, Abascal, former activist of the PP belonging to a family threatened by the armed group ETA, who has now disappeared, in his native Basque country, he alluded to the defense of the unity of Spain, one of the pillars of his program.

"We come and we are with Spain, our homeland, the legacy of our parents and the future of our children, and it will never change," he added. "Welcome to the resistance."

Carried by the crisis in Catalonia, Vox has come to the forefront of the national political scene with the regional elections in Andalusia, where is key support to the government coalition formed by People's Party and The citizens.

"I am happy because I finally see the interests of two million Spaniards represented, but the truth is that I expected more representation", a point Manuel de la Puerta, a 19-year-old Andalusian student living in Madrid.

The result of the general elections reinforces the fragmentation of Spanish politics, which started in the Europeans of 2014 with the emergence of The citizens and can, ending decades of bipartisanship between People's Party and the Socialist Party.

In addition to an electoral program based on the territorial and linguistic unit of the country and on the respect of national symbols, Abascal has proposed to review the strict rules on the possession of weapons in the country. The training campaigned on the basis of Spain's defense of what it considers to be threats: the separatism, the Muslim immigration, the feminism and the progressive.

The entry of Vox to Parliament has redefined the distribution of forces in the Spanish right. The once dominant PP, which was the most voted in 2016, suffered an unprecedented loss of support from 137 to the last mandate, or 66 seats.

"I am a person who does not shy away from his responsibilities," said his candidate, Pablo Casado. "The result has been very bad, the PP likes to win and still enjoys winning, and it is true that several elections have lost our electoral support".

"We will start working now with the maximum of enthusiasm and responsibility to recover this support", he added.

The result, however, was consistent with what had been forecast by the most conservative polls before the elections, being in line with what could get a far right training in Portugal or Germany.

"It's reasonable, which did not make sense was the claim to separate the People's Party or a larger result" a point Cristina Ares, expert in politics at the University of Santiago de Compostela.

(With AP information and EFE)