Vox's Overton window: now it's "national priority" but not abortion

BarcelonaThe agreements between PP and Vox in Extremadura and Aragon have had a "box or fence" that was not only about management, but above all about ideological war. On paper, Vox has won it with the achievement for the first time of "national priority" in "aid, subsidies, and public benefits" – in both regions. As ARA has been able to learn, Vox approached the negotiations as a key scenario for the cultural battle a year before the Spanish elections, with two essential axes: immigration based on the slogan "first those from home"; and deregulation, the chainsaw of the Argentine Javier Milei. National priority has been an agreed element as a prelude to new offensives: "It is the Overton window," say consulted Vox sources, who cite a concept from political science that describes the progressive acceptance of ideas that were initially rejected.

The roadmap planned by the far-right is to now present a battle so that "national priority" is assumed by society before the next general elections. "End the stigmatization" of the measure, counting on the Spanish government to put up a fight. "Then, to the next screen," they conclude. For now, they already defend the limitation of rights for all immigrants and the expulsion of all those who are in an irregular situation. What will be next?

The migratory issue is "the key" that they have seen needs to be pressed to advance their ideological agenda. They don't care that popular leaders have cried foul with the Extremaduran agreement, such as the Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno Bonilla, who is playing to revalidate his absolute majority in the elections on May 17, or the Madrid president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. As for the latter, she has an important base of voters of Latin American origin, whom Vox calls "Little Caracas": the far-right, in fact, argues that Latin immigration

harms Madrilenians

in access to housing. However, the national PP has even taken the national priority agreed in Extremadura to Congress, despite internal clashes.

the state PP has even taken national priority to Congresscapturing working-class and ex-socialist votes.

At this point, from Vox they admit that they have not yet hit the mark on issues of women, abortion and opposition to "gender policies" because they have verified that it "generates a lot of contrary sentiment" and the party still finds difficulties in penetrating the female electorate. Despite continuing to hold the same ideas as always, the emphasis is not on the anti-abortion gene – which does not appear anywhere in the agreements.

Forceful clashes

In the negotiations in Extremadura, there have been some tense moments: "Either stop making a fool of yourselves or it's over," was heard, after a canceled meeting and accusations of leaks. The PP also tread lightly around the harsh letter to Vox militants from Secretary General Ignacio Garriga, in which he spoke of the methods of "Galician smugglers" by the popular leadership and accused them of colluding with critics to destabilize their party. The essential point of the talks was the entry of the PP's state leadership with Secretary General Miguel Tellado and Feijóo's right-hand woman, Marta Varela. This activated Guardiola who, despite everything, took the lead. If the negotiations move forward, it is thanks to "parallel communication" between Guardiola and the deputy secretary general of Vox, Montse Lluis.

This facilitated the negotiating teams' persistence in the exchange of roles for a task for which Vox received the incorporation of leaders to Congress Carlos Quero and José María Figaredo, party referents in immigration, housing, and economy, who have also been present in Aragon. Marathonic meetings of "more than six hours" led to an agreement last Thursday afternoon, which also overcame the obstacle of relations between Feijóo and Abascal – although the revelation by the Galician leader of a conversation between the two has accentuated the "cooling" between them. Reaching Guardiola's pact accelerated understanding in Aragon, where Vox already had more rapport with the popular Jorge Azcón.

Other issues have caused more clashes, such as Vox publicly stating that the agreed text foresees that entities like Cáritas will stop receiving public aid for irregular immigration, something the PP has denied. In the clash over portfolios, the proposal to reinstate a Vox regional senator that the PP had initially rejected also contributed to the agreement.