The expulsion of Javier Ortega Smith was the trigger that has allowed Vox's critics to light the fuse against the leadership. The definitive coup de grâce was on February 18, when the party kicked out the former Madrid leader, who, this time, has decided to go to war that he avoided during the January 2024 congress. This rebellion was followed by the Murcian leader, José Ángel Antelo, after the leadership offered him to be a regional candidate on the condition that he leave the provincial presidency, which he did not accept and was expelled from the group with an expediente to be eliminated. Vox's former spokesperson Iván Espinosa de los Monteros –who stepped down in August 2023 and already launched a foundation to influence last September–, joined in, activating the call for an extraordinary congress. And the resignation of the former Castilian-Leonese vice-president Juan García-Gallardo has also been added, who stepped down in February of last year. A series of movements that show the critics' offensive against the leadership of Santiago Abascal.

Vox has decided to expel the former vice-president of Castile and León, Juan García-Gallardo, for a very serious offense, as ARA has been able to confirm, and not long ago it also kicked out the former leader of the party in Madrid, Javier Ortega Smith – he is still in the City Council. Another figurehead of the Spanish far-right, Iván Espinosa de los Monteros, has shown himself to be equally or more critical than them of Santiago Abascal, but the party prefers, for the moment, not to act against him. The difference, according to sources from the party leadership, is that Espinosa "has not accused" anyone from the leadership of anything, but rather has criticized the party's political direction.

It's been two years since Iván Espinosa de los Monteros left Vox due to disagreements with the direction set by Santiago Abascal. After being away from the political frontline for so long, the founder of the far-right party presented a "civil platform" this Thursday, called Atenea, through which he aims to influence the "non-left" parties. Espinosa de los Monteros asserted that his association is not against anyone nor does it want to "join" any specific party. However, while no member of Vox's current leadership attended the presentation event, the PP, which is focused on halting the shift of votes to the far right, did show interest. The attendance of the PP's number two, Miguel Tellado, was confirmed, although he dropped out at the last minute. Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, deputy spokesperson in Congress, and the party's deputy secretary, Juan Bravo, were also present.

From the start, it is clear that the right is not united to defeat Pedro Sánchez. At the talk called by the International Foundation for Freedom, chaired by Mario Vargas Llosa, the former leader of Cs Albert Rivera arrives late. Afterwards, he will have the detail of staying to chat and take photos with the young people who have come to listen to him, together with the former president of the Community of Madrid Esperanza Aguirre (PP) and the former spokesperson for Vox in Congress Iván Espinosa de los Monteros. The moderator of the event, a young admirer of Javier Milei born in Rosario who praises his fellow citizen Leo Messi and describes Che Guevara as a "murderer", warns that the event will last an hour because Real Madrid is playing afterwards. Seeing how, fleetingly, Espinosa de los Monteros leaves the space as soon as the talk ends, it is clear who has set these conditions.