A year ago in an interview with La Vanguardia, the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, maintained that, despite the differences regarding the national question, Aliança and his party had important points in common. "There is no clash because at this moment Aliança is focused on criticizing illegal immigration and not so much on separatist ambition," said Abascal. "Aliança's anti-immigration discourse is good news about how Spanish society is changing and how Catalonia is also changing. These truly important concerns will unite the Spanish people, and in Catalonia, this is happening in an accelerated way. The rejection of mass immigration of people influenced by Islamic fanaticism will unify Spain."