The leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, will kick off the pre-campaign for the general elections on November 29 this Sunday with a rally in Estepona (Málaga). In this event, he will presumably emphasize the crisis caused by the massive influx of immigrants in Ceuta on July 30, an autonomous city where he will spend Hispanic Day and to which he will return instead of attending the parade presided over by Kings Felipe VI and Letizia.
The rally will take place at 6:00 PM at the Sol Marbella Estepona Atalaya Park hotel and will be the prelude to the visit that Abascal will make to Ceuta on October 12, choosing to once again be absent from the central event of the National Day, the traditional military parade that takes place in Madrid. In the autonomous city, he will be accompanied by the president of the Patriots group in the European Parliament and leader of the French party National Rally, Jordan Bardella.
"On October 12, I will not be in any tribune with a mafia government that has betrayed Spain and has left part of our national territory invaded," Abascal informed through his account on the social network 'X'. "I will be in Ceuta, with the Spaniards who defend the border that (the president, Pedro) Sánchez has abandoned," he added. "On October 12, with the Spanish people," he concluded.
This will be the second consecutive year that Abascal leaves his seat empty in the authorities' tribune, located next to that of Kings Felipe VI and Letizia, during the parade, and he will also not attend the subsequent reception that their majesties offer at the Royal Palace. In 2025, he justified his absence by claiming that he did not wish to coincide with President Pedro Sánchez at institutional events to not "legitimize" or "whitewash" him, and he followed the military parade from the street, in the vicinity of Plaza de Colón.
Visit to Ceuta amid migration crisis
Abascal traveled to Ceuta on August 2, just after the massive entry of immigrants from Morocco that triggered a serious crisis in the autonomous city. Since July, he has insisted on the need to keep alive the memory of what his party considers "an invasion" sponsored by Morocco and tolerated by Sánchez's government, as well as the importance of supporting the people of Ceuta. In these days, he is redoubling his efforts to focus political attention on Ceuta, pushing the debate on housing, which had been dominating the pre-campaign, to the background.
Vox faces the general elections of 29-N with good expectations, as most polls predict that it could double its presence in Congress and approach 70 seats, which would position it as a possible partner in a future coalition government with the PP. However, Abascal called for caution on Monday and asked not to consider the elections won to avoid repeating the mistake of 2023.
As for the chosen place to kick off the pre-campaign, Andalusia is one of the four autonomous communities where Vox shares government with the PP. Abascal's party reached an agreement with the 'popular' after the elections in May. It was the fourth autonomy to go to the polls in 2024 and, in all of them, Vox improved its results compared to the previous regional elections. This also allowed it to close government agreements with the PP in Extremadura, Aragón, and Castilla y León.