VOX and the battle for the protest vote: from motion to street

VOX steps up its territorial offensive while the economic narrative sets the tone

What is left of a party when the crisis becomes its only argument? Between January and February 2021, the party led by Santiago Abascal deployed a messaging machine that ranged from electricity prices to security in Catalonia, taking in immigration and housing along the way. The sequence was no accident: each piece aimed to plant a core idea in the electorate ahead of the Catalan election on 14 February.

The material that piles up in the public conversation paints a picture of a party that has made confrontation its method and emergency its calendar. Electricity bills are up 27%, proclaims one of the most repeated messages, while another warns that 70% of the cost of the electricity bill has nothing to do with the cost of energy. These are figures thrown out without any breakdown, but with a clear target: the voter who looks at the bill and cannot make ends meet.

From the electricity bill to the insecurity narrative

VOX's economic strategy in those weeks rested on three fronts: energy prices, the tax burden and the situation of workers. Iván Espinosa summed up the party's thesis in a phrase repeated across several formats: "This system does not work regardless of who governs". In other words, the problem was not just the coalition government, but the entire framework.

That framework included, according to the messages, 4 million unemployed and more than 700,000 on furlough schemes in the middle of a cold snap. The coincidence of the electricity price rise with the century's biggest cold wave was exploited as proof of abandonment. The technical details of the electricity market mattered less than the perception that the government was looking the other way.

Catalonia and security as the campaign's backbone

The 14 February vote acted as a catalyst. The messages from Jorge Buxadé in Cancelar, Javier Ortega in Tarragona or Juanjo Aizcorbe in Sabadell were not about economic programmes, but about security and freedom. The rallying cry was to restore the "Law and Order" that, according to the party, had been snatched away. In that context, incidents with pro-independence groups during the events became campaign material: what some saw as provocation, VOX saw as proof of the lack of freedom in Catalonia.

The international dimension also played its part. Marine Le Pen's presence in Madrid, invited by Abascal, and the meeting with Giorgia Meloni and other European leaders served to project an image of a continental alliance. The event, held in January 2021, sought to normalise the VOX brand outside Spain and present it as part of a broader European current.

Immigration and housing: the border control argument

One of the most repeated messages linked immigration and housing: "Housing is defended by starting with border control". The equation was simple and sought to connect with the discontent of working-class neighbourhoods. In parallel, MP Ana Oramas was accused of "betraying the people of the Canary Islands" for allowing what the party called a "migratory invasion". These are claims that form part of political discourse and are thrown out without providing concrete data on their real impact on the housing market or on employment.

The message about "unaccompanied migrant minors, squatters and incivil" in the neighbourhoods was repeated insistently. It is the most aggressive part of the narrative, the one that seeks to cash in on antiestéticar. And also the one that generates the most rejection among those who see in it an unfair generalisation.

Wearing down the government as the common thread

The attrition strategy relied on demanding resignations. Abascal called for immediate accountability over the handling of the crisis: "Why hasn't the Transport Minister resigned yet?", he went as far as asking. The formula was repeated in different formats and with different protagonists. The goal was not so much the resignation itself as planting the idea that the government was incapable.

In that context, Macarena Olona and her appearance on TVE became an example of the strategy of direct confrontation with the public media. Criticism of the state broadcaster as part of the "pogre consensus" was another pillar of the discourse.

Behind the scenes: a party under internal strain

Not everything was harmony. The figure of Alvise surfaced in the public conversation, a political actor who, according to some messages, did not join the initiative to support VOX and chose instead to publish "trivia and nonsense about polling". The anecdote reveals a real tension: that of a party that is growing and starting to have to manage egos and rivalries. Unity is presented as a priority, but it is not always easy.

The end of the sequence, with messages such as "They have turned Spain into Burkina Faso" or the "one-way ticket" as a symbol, shows the tone VOX has chosen for the final stretch of its offensive. The question is whether that tone mobilises or wears thin. The results of the Catalan election on 14 February, which do not appear in the material, would be the first real test.

In the end, politics is that: choosing a frame and repeating it until it sinks in. VOX has done it with a discipline others would envy. Whether the frame is the right one is another matter.