Spanish far-right party emerges with 10,000-strong event
Suspending Catalan self-rule, banning pro-independence parties, deporting migrants and abolishing gender violence law, among measures proposed
They want to suspend Catalonia's self-rule and that of all other Spanish territories, to ban any party or organization defending independence, to deport all "illegal migrants," to abolish the gender violence law, as well as abortion and the historical memory law, among others.
They are Vox, Spain's far-right party, and for the first time ever since their foundation in 2013, they have a chance of getting seats in major parliaments.
Vox only got 0.2% of the votes in the last Spanish election –but the latest polls suggest that they could get some MEPs in the upcoming European election, along with representation after the next vote for the Spanish Congress.
Dramatic increase in membership
Twelve months ago, they had around 3,000 members, but now they are more than 10,000, according to their leaders.
Although Vox is already well-known in Catalonia and Spain, mainly because it acts as a private prosecutor in the independence judicial case, it was on Sunday when it first became obvious that the organization could play a role in Spanish political life in the near future.
The party held a 10,000-strong event in Madrid, in a sports pavilion full of Spanish flags, and the people who talked to the audience included the organization's president, Santiago Abascal, who demanded "an immediate fresh election" to the Spanish president.
"Spanish people first"
Its secretary general, Javier Ortega, showed with his speech that Vox is a Trump-like party, and also close to Matteo Salvini's Lega Nord in Italy.