On November 21, Santiago Abascal called a rally in Navalmoral de la Mata, the eighth most populous municipality in Extremadura, with almost 18,000 inhabitants. The Vox leader filled the pavilion where the number of young faces was striking, a photograph that was repeated at each of his campaign events. During this meeting of Navalmoral, in front of morals, Óscar Fernández, recently named candidate for the presidency of the Junta of Extremadura by Abascal and totally unknown to activism, spoke, although he is a deputy in the Assembly:
“The people of Extremadura have had enough of corrupt bipartisanship!
“This two-party system has forgotten and abandoned us, the Extremadurians,” he said to the applause of his supporters. “The aid must be aimed first at the inhabitants of Extremadura and not at those from outside. » A month later, Vox’s populist speech achieved an indisputable result: it more than doubled the number of seats obtained in Extremadura in 2023 (from five to 11) and the percentage of votes (from 8% to 17%). These data exceed the best expectations of the ultra party, whose objective was to get closer to 10 deputies. To understand this electoral success, we just need to look closely at Navalmoral de la Mata and its surroundings, where the color green predominates over the rest.
In Navalmoral, a municipality governed by the PP, they obtained 23.5% of the votes. That is to say, one in four votes will reap a spoils of 1,701 – 10 points more than two years ago – and will overtake the PSOE as the second force. In fact, the sum of the right-wing bloc (PP-Vox) increased in this municipality to 70%.
And not only in Navalmoral, but it has spread to this entire region of Extremadura. located in the northeast of the province of Cáceres, known as Campo Arañuelo and which is home to some 17 municipalities, including Almaraz, where the nuclear power plant highlighted during the campaign is located (the government plans its closure in 2027, against PP and Vox). And also in towns like Talayuela, which has 7,500 inhabitants and where 24% of the population is Moroccan. It is the municipality of Extremadura which has the most immigrant neighbors.
This area of Extremadura is very agricultural, one of Vox’s electoral bases. It is characterized by the cultivation of tobacco, corn and the famous La Vera paprika. In fact, this immigrant population of Talayuela arrived in the city in the 1990s after a significant change in tobacco culture, where they began smoking blond tobacco at the expense of dark tobacco. A change which required a larger workforce. And thousands of immigrants descended on the city to harvest the crops.
In Talayuela, Vox exploded during these elections. 25% more than just two years ago. Here, an unusual figure occurred during the count: a vote tie between PP and Vox with 851 votes for each party. Here the sum on the right is 74.8%. And Santiago Abascal was also there before the start of the campaign. It was last November 25. “Santi, take it. It’s the only way,” a young man told the ultra leader in a video posted on his social networks. “To Spain and Vox, damn it, future president,” another.
Abascal even entered a bar, where he was received by the neighbors like a star. “We have to start from the roots, and then from the economy,” another neighbor in his fifties told him. Abascal, smiling, replied: “I like what you say. »
In this region which brings together nearly 40,000 inhabitants, Vox has completely exploded. Data that we also see in the surveys of the municipality of Almaraz, where the nuclear power plant is located. Almaraz is a town of 1,760 inhabitants which offers hundreds and hundreds of jobs in the region. PP and Vox defended the extension of the useful life of the plant requested until 2030 by the owner companies, Iberdrola, Endesa and Naturgy.
And there too, the president of Vox was present during the electoral campaign. It was last December 15. “This closure is not something that happens overnight. It is the policy of the PP and PSOE with their green fanaticism,” he said. “They share policies of migratory invasion, extremist gender policies and the most radical feminism a la Irene Montero, as we see these days with the words of Ms. Guardiola.”
Six days later, the Almaraz polls see Vox progressing by 13.2% compared to 2023, also positioning itself as the second force after the PP. And even first, as happened in Pueblonuevo de Miramontes, a municipality of 800 inhabitants located 40 minutes by car from Almaraz, where they received 35% of the votes. This December 15, near the nuclear power plant, Abascal himself spoke to the media and emphatically launched a premonition:
—What would be a good result for Vox?
“We hope that it will be the party that will see the most growth in these elections and we have no doubt that it will be so.
All election results in Extremadura
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