Vox intensifies its pressure on socialist strongholds: "Sánchez is not dead"

BarcelonaWinning votes away from the PSC is not a new objective for Vox. But given the current context, in the midst of a significant growth of the far-right party In Catalonia and Spain, the party has intensified its strategy of targeting areas with a socialist majority and significant immigrant populations, with the aim of accelerating its momentum. The leadership maintains its directive to remain "on the streets" in an offensive that has multiplied and emphasizes contrasting social welfare with immigration. They even have an internal document, which ARA has obtained, listing priority Barcelona neighborhoods where the PSC (Socialist Party of Catalonia) consistently wins comfortable victories in elections. Vox's assessment is this: "Sánchez is not dead." Thus, they are committed to daily work, going door-to-door in neighborhoods to continue growing and put an end to socialism, preventing what they call a repeat of Felipe González's third term. They are also on alert for "traps" they believe the government is using to hinder them, such as the Franco issue, the Palestinian cause, and abortion.

The document identifies several neighborhoods, from Raval to Barceloneta, Bordeta, Marina, Zona Franca, Sants, Carmelo, Horta, Torre Baró, and Bon Pastor. The strategy is clearly aimed at attracting voters in socialist-leaning areas. This is also reflected in the thirty or so visits throughout Catalonia that the party's general secretary, Ignacio Garriga, has made this legislative term. Eighty percent of these visits were in municipalities governed by the socialists: from Cornellà de Llobregat and Santa Coloma de Gramenet to Lleida, Gavà, and Tarragona, as well as locations in Barcelona. He has also visited towns with high immigrant populations, such as Salt (37.34%) and Seròs (28.68%), six points higher than Lleida and eleven points higher than Badalona, ​​a PP stronghold that they also visited. In the case of Salt, Vox holds the third-largest number of seats on the city council.

What does the plan consist of?

How is this plan structured? Vox's objective is to go "where there are more socialist voters because that's where they can dismantle the idea that the PSOE defends workers," in their view, and where they can express the discourse of "national priority" and security by appealing to the fact that "serious crimes are skyrocketing," referring to the increase in drug trafficking or... Sexual violence, which certainly increases even though the overall crime rate decreases —like petty theft—. They maintain that "going neighborhood by neighborhood has a clear impact," something that, regardless of their perception, is reflected in a surge of social media activity. This dissemination spreads with an anti-immigration message—packaged as an attack on the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party)—that claims "family first" and that it is necessary to expel undocumented immigrants and criminals with a criminalizing discourse.

The key is to compare immigration with Catalan citizenship, listen to people's complaints, walk the streets and feel the concerns of the citizens with cases that Garriga then brings up in the question period. Immigration and aid "generate a lot of anger," they say, and they take advantage of this to proselytize their program: "To denounce that Catalans are the ones who pay the most taxes, have poor public services, and that aid goes towards immigration," the party explains.

The execution of the plan and the results

To understand the phenomenon, it's necessary to see how it works: several formulas are combined simultaneously. From 15M-style assemblies with neighbors to address problems —for example, in Tarragona, protesting a future center for unaccompanied foreign minors—to walks through areas with meetings with shopkeepers or selected residents chosen by the area coordinator. And to all this are added the spontaneous people who stop Garriga during his visits, including those who engage with the media.

These are some examples captured in videos that have circulated on social media. An elderly woman, sitting in a chair in the middle of the street in Badalona, ​​with crutches resting on her lap, He explains that he only earns 500 euros a month and who is experiencing significant difficulties paying the bills. "We are Catalans and we have more rights than others," he exclaims, adding that "it's not right" what they are doing to Catalans. Garriga compares it to the "handout" that unaccompanied foreign minors receive and to Islam: "You put on a headscarf, go to the queue and you'll see they give you food," he suddenly asserts, lashing out against Muslims without evidence. Or A baker in La Florida, in L'Hospitalet, explains that "he has to close in the afternoon" by the criminals, whom he associates with people who "embark" from outside the state. Or a middle-aged man in Torre Baró, who He claims that he had voted for the PSOE "all his life". and who now opts for Vox because of the "robberies of elderly women."

The three videos garnered numerous views. The first, in particular, reached nearly 1.4 million views on TikTok, 400,000 on X, and 170,000 on Instagram, while the other two, to a lesser extent, still accumulated over two hundred thousand views. The views have a significant impact, especially the 2.5 million likes Garriga has received on TikTok. Spontaneous encounters—such as when people go to places frequented by young people—are the ones that express the most indignation towards Garriga, whom they recognize and address—he is known by 43% of the population according to the latest CEO barometer. Although many videos are forceful regarding immigration, whether from spontaneous encounters or pre-arranged meetings, the harshest criticism is displayed through derogatory comments against immigrants, Islam, and Pedro Sánchez—which they are forced to omit.

Amid the anti-immigration offensive, they are raising issues of identity. This is the case with the latest battle against the teaching of Arabic and Moroccan culture in schools, as happened in Sabadell, where anti-establishment Vox protesters threw objects amidst verbal clashes and back-and-forth confrontations. All of this represents a series of tactics the party is using to propel itself forward in its crusade against the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party).