VOX comes fourth in Melilla and third in Ceuta: the electoral slowdown

VOX fails to take off in Ceuta and Melilla: fourth and third place

Why can't VOX become the leading force in two cities where its hard-line rhetoric should find fertile ground? The election results have left the party in fourth place in Melilla and third in Ceuta, an outcome that many have welcomed with satisfaction, as if rejecting the party were the only good news of the day.

Both autonomous cities live a peculiar socioeconomic reality: heavy dependence on public-sector jobs, cross-border commerce and constant demographic pressure due to their geographic location. In theory, this context favours parties that promise order and border control. Yet the ballot boxes did not back VOX.

A vote shaped by local politics

Electoral analysis in these enclaves cannot simply trinc the script used for the rest of Spain. Regionalist parties and the political dynamics specific to Ceuta and Melilla carry more weight than is usually admitted. Despite its expansion across the country, VOX has failed here to overtake forces with a long-established presence. The irony is that Santiago Abascal's party can boast of representation, but hardly of success: fourth place in Melilla and third in Ceuta feel like meagre results for a party that aspires to govern.

Perhaps urban voters are more sceptical than polls suggested. Or perhaps the economic and social reality of the two African cities has little to do with the national narrative. What remains is a result that invites nuance about the party's advance and raises the question of whether its electoral ceiling is lower than it seemed.