Santiago Abascal's most powerful speech goes viral in Spain

The post calling for Santiago Abascal to be made president of Spain and to "restore peace and security to the streets" sums up the axis on which Vox builds its message: public safety and law and order. The message offers no concrete economic proposals, but appeals to voters through the perception of insecurity.

The piece circulating is short and to the point: "Great stuff, Santi, we have to make this man president of Spain and restore peace and security to the streets of Spain." There is no programme, no figures, no promises of tax cuts. There is a name, **Santiago Abascal**, and a promise that fits in a tweet: peace and security.

## Public safety as an electoral banner

Vox has been placing public safety at the centre of its message for some time. The party led by Abascal has made irregular immigration and squatted homes two of its recurring issues in the Spanish Congress. The viral message does not invent that framework: it condenses it. And it does so without going into details of governance, which is precisely where the speech becomes hardest to sustain.

The post does not mention taxes, employment or public spending. For a voter worried about the economy, the message arrives through another channel: the feeling that the streets are not safe. It is an emotional argument, not an accounting one.

## What is promised and what is left out

"Restoring peace and security" is a formula that sounds like the restoration of a lost order. It does not say how. It does not specify more police, tougher sentences or more resources. Nor does it explain where the money to fund it would come from. In a country with **48.6 million inhabitants** (INE, 1 January 2024), any promise of security carries a budgetary cost that the message does not address.

Abascal's speech works because it does not need detail. His electoral base already shares the diagnosis. The challenge lies with undecided voters, and there the figures weigh more than the slogans.

## The cost of governing by headlines

Putting safety at the centre of the debate has measurable economic consequences: more spending on police, prisons and justice. None of those items comes free. The viral message does not go into that, and understandably so: a tweet is not an electoral programme.

What it does reveal is the mood of part of the electorate. It calls for a strong leader to tackle a problem it perceives as urgent. The economy is left in the background, even though it is the one that pays the bill.