Hard-right party Vox used a campaign rally in Marbella on Friday night to launch a fierce attack on both the Spanish government and Andalucía’s conservative regional president.
The event came just hours after two Guardia Civil officers were killed during a narco boat chase in Huelva.
While both the PSOE and Partido Popular cancelled campaign rallies out of respect, Vox pressed ahead with its event in Marbella, where speakers repeatedly linked the tragedy to immigration, drug trafficking and what they described as government weakness.
The event quickly turned into a tribute to the two officers, with attendees observing a rendition of ‘La muerte no es el final’ (Death is not the end) in their honour.
But the speeches rapidly shifted into political attacks.
In one of the most controversial remarks of the evening, Abascal accused Andalucia’s PP president Juanma Moreno of enabling the policies of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
‘It pains me to see Mr Moreno Bonilla turned into a kind of collaborator, perhaps unwitting, of Pedro Sanchez, opposing the national priority, refusing to criticise the migrant invasion and the mass regularisation (of undocumented migrants),’ Abascal said.
The Vox leader also described Moreno as ‘an apprentice of Rajoy,’ accusing him of spending ‘eight years betraying the absolute majority and maintaining the PSOE’s clientelist structure.’
The hard-right party repeatedly framed the deaths of the Guardia Civil officers as evidence of what it called a breakdown in law and order under Sanchez’s government.
Speaking at the rally, Vox Andalucia spokesman and candidate Manuel Gavira said: ‘Sanchez’s Government is a corrupt and mafioso government, and what Moreno Bonilla does is stay silent.’
He added: ‘Timidity, moderation, and staying on the sidelines don’t cut it. We must denounce and we must be tough when we need to be tough.’
Abascal struck an even harsher tone while discussing drug trafficking gangs operating in southern Spain.
‘We are completely fed up with the good guys dying and the criminals getting away,’ he said. ‘We want our Guardia Civil officers alive. And if necessary, the narcos in a coffin or at the bottom of the sea.’
The rally was held in front of hundreds of supporters in Marbella and formed part of Vox’s campaign push ahead of the Andalucian elections on May 17.
The speeches are likely to intensify criticism from political opponents, who have accused Vox of exploiting the deaths of the two officers for political gain.
The killings in Huelva have shocked Spain and reignited debate over narco trafficking networks operating along the southern coast, particularly in Andalucía’s Campo de Gibraltar and western coastal areas.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
