Abascal in Argentina: People will want to hang Sánchez

Abascal claims people will want to hang Sánchez

How far can a metaphor go before it stops being one? Santiago Abascal, leader of Vox, said in Argentina that "there will be a moment when the people will want to hang Pedro Sánchez by his feet," and the phrase has acted like a match in a powder keg. The statement, reported by El País, comes amid sustained protests outside the Socialist headquarters on Ferraz Street and intensifying political hostility. The PP, Vox's partner in regional and local governments, remains silent; the PSOE demands an unequivocal condemnation.

What Abascal exactly said and where

The phrase was uttered in Argentina at an event alongside far-right figures. There, Abascal praised how Javier Milei has waged "the cultural and political battle against the left." The Vox leader offers no nuance, no caveats, no preemptive quotes. He throws out the image and lets it roll.

The problem is that the image has a history. Hanging by the feet is a specific procedure with a concrete past. As Alán Barroso recalled on X (formerly Twitter): Mussolini was hung by his feet, and without Franco—whom Abascal admires, according to the same message—one cannot understand the war. The comparison is not decorative; it is a substantive accusation.

The double standard denounced by the left

The most repeated argument in public discourse is not about violence in the abstract, but about unequal treatment. According to messages circulating online, a user from Vallecas was arrested for writing "Abascal hanging from the Vallecas Bridge." Another message states that a rapper from Fuengirola was detained for singing "two shots in Abascal's neck." Abascal, however, says something similar on stage and nothing happens.

Minister Pilar Alegría puts it bluntly: "Violence is the opposite of democracy. A democrat can only condemn such barbarity." She adds the political blow: "The PP was willing to make Abascal Vice President. Feijóo cannot look away." The PSOE, on its official account, poses two simple questions: Does Feijóo share his partner's words? Will he break agreements in regions and municipalities?

The PP and the cost of looking the other way

Here lies the crux. Vox is not an isolated party: it sustains regional and municipal governments with the PP. Every phrase from Abascal forces Feijóo to choose between condemning his partner or accepting the framework. Óscar Puente summarizes it: "Feijóo's partner. But then they tear their clothes over any trifle."

Some argue that the PP has accepted playing on a tilted board and that its low-profile strategy is a mistake. Criticism comes not only from the left: conservative voices point out that the PP had ammunition to counterattack—the PSOE's partners, amnesty, the climate—and has once again wasted it. Strategic blindness, this current argues, is more dangerous than the phrase itself.

What is brewing underneath: Ferraz, the street, and the limit

The phrase does not fall into a vacuum. Months of gatherings have taken place outside Ferraz, rain or shine, and part of the electorate has internalized that the limit of protest has already been crossed. "People have crossed the line and won't tolerate it for another second," one intervention summarizes. Another goes further: "It's the truth; more than half of Spain thinks so and desires it."

Against this, the institutional counterweight: Pedro Sánchez has secured 179 supports in Congress, while Vox has gained zero in its two attempts at a motion of censure. The distance between the shout and the seat is, for now, abyssal.

Milei, Abascal, and the uncomfortable comparison

A distinction appears in the conversation that is worth retaining. Milei is an economist, with technical training and a plan that may succeed or fail. Abascal, say those drawing the parallel, is something else: a leader without economic or management training, whose function is agitation. "There is an abyss between these two people," one intervention concludes.

The comparison with historical fascism is not gratuitous. The script of seizing power in the thirties included exactly this: installing the idea that the adversary is not a rival, but an enemy who must be eliminated. The hanging metaphor is not a bar-room hyperbole. It is a piece of the manual.

What remains to be seen

Feijóo has not condemned. Vox has not rectified. The PSOE maintains pressure and the street continues. With these materials, the basket does not close: it opens. Meanwhile, the uncomfortable question remains without an official answer: if an anonymous citizen ends up arrested for wishing death upon a politician, what happens when the speaker is the leader of a party with seats?

Nothing, apparently. Gravity applies only to those below.