Masters of Mayhem
Europe’s populists have common goals, not a shared ideology. That makes them harder to stop.
Unholy alliance.
Photo by Christian Minelli/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Two and a half years ago, few Spanish citizens had heard of the far-right party Vox, let alone planned to vote for it. Co-founded in 2013 by a Basque politician named Santiago Abascal, Vox fielded candidates in 10 regional parliamentary elections but failed to win a seat in any of them. In Spain’s 2016 general election, Vox received just two-tenths of 1% out of more than 23 million votes cast. The party remained shut out of every level of Spanish government.
No longer. In last December’s elections in Andalusia, Spain’s most populous region, Vox won 11% of the vote and helped oust the Socialist party from power after 36 years. It is now the country’s fifth most popular party. (In 2016, it didn’t make the top 12.) In national elections last month, Vox did less well than it had hoped — but still won 10.3% of the popular vote and 24 seats in parliament. It is one of several far-right parties in Europe poised to join the European Parliament for the first time.