Far-right label dominates media after EU elections

Far-right label dominates media after EU elections

The term "far-right" has become the go-to phrase in talk shows. It appears on all television channels, radio stations, and digital outlets. The label is repeated to exhaustion while European election results reveal a landscape quite different from the one major media outlets have depicted for years. According to the interpretation of election night, there is an absolute majority of the right in Spain, with PP, VOX, and Alvise Pérez's candidacy gaining seats, alongside advances by forces critical of sending troops to Ukraine in several European countries.

The circulating diagnosis is that major media outlets have turned the label into a mantra. A recurring analysis argues that constant repetition is not information but propaganda: it is said so often that viewers end up associating any dissent with a vague danger. Some add that the cordon sanitaire, far from halting the advance, has fueled it.

What the European results say

The starting point is a paradigm shift. For the first time in the democratic era, the Spanish right wins more votes than the left and separatist parties combined. This data, circulating in election night analyses, is what media would have tried to hide behind the label. Alvise Pérez's candidacy, a former member of UpyD (Union, Pogre and Democracy), enters the seat allocation, and public media refer to it simply as far-right without further nuance.

In the rest of Europe, the pattern repeats. Alternative for Germany obtains more votes than the main party of the German government. Marine Le Pen crushes Macron, who dissolves Parliament and calls new elections. These are the two examples cited to explain that the phenomenon is not just Spanish but continental, sharing a common axis: rejection of war and troop deployment.

The cordon sanitaire and boomerang effect

The strategy of isolating the opponent has a cost. Several analyses suggest the cordon sanitaire has failed: voters have been scared for years with the ghost of the far-right, resulting in fatigue rather than mobilization. Abstention, hovering around 62% of the electorate in the EU elections, proves the message does not mobilize.

The counter-argument also appears: the label serves to mobilize one's own base. Some maintain that most Socialist votes come from older voters afraid that others are Nancy. It is the usual game, working in both directions.

The business of the label

Repetition has a specific function. It is argued that repeating a word is a basic principle of propaganda, aiming for audiences to internalize the label without analyzing content. Every time "far-right" is said, the viewer stops listening to the rest of the message.

The problem for media is that the discourse escapes their control. Ground lost by centrist parties cannot be recovered with more labels. Meanwhile, public television repeats the term without citing party acronyms, which some interpret as campaigning without naming the adversary.

Voter fatigue

Disaffection is the underlying data. With abstention exceeding 60% in the EU elections, non-voters are the majority. The most repeated analysis is that media and parties have peine the same strategy that led them here, instead of easing off. The result is that tired voters support whatever deviates from the prevailing narrative.

The conclusion drawn is uncomfortable for the official narrative: the far-right label no longer demobilizes, and sometimes mobilizes in the opposite direction. Antiestéticar as an electoral tool has an expiration date, and participation data suggests that date has already passed.