Vox: far-right ultra-conservatives with chances of entering Spanish government

The far-right Vox are expected to play a significant role in the upcoming Spanish election. Polls say there is little to separate the left-wing and right-wing blocs, with some even predicting Vox and the People's Party winning a combined majority in the Spanish congress. 

Among voters in Catalonia, it's foreseen that they will pick up just a few seats, falling far behind other parties. Yet, the territory has long been one of the main focal points of the Vox's program, as the party staunchly against Catalan independence shot up in popularity across Spain when acting as a private prosecutor in the 2019 trial of the referendum leaders. Their strong unionist rhetoric saw them gain a lot of exposure when Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull, and co. were sentenced to prison terms of up to 13 years. 

At a recent campaign event in L'Hostpitalet de Llobregat, just outside Barcelona, one of the party's leading figures, Iván Espinosa de los Monteros, told people that the Spanish government "have especially betrayed Catalans," as the executive led by Pedro Sánchez "took it for granted that all Catalans are represented by the worst of society, the scum, the separatists, the coup plotters," referring to the pro-independence governments that have been in power in Catalonia for the past numerous administrations. 

Among one of the priorities for the party that could see a significant impact in Catalonia is to change the educational model across Spain. They want the responsibility of organizing the curriculum to be returned to the central government and favor classes given in the Spanish language as opposed to Catalan, which could put the immersion system in schools here under threat. 

Vox also promise to reform the penal code to re-introduce the law of sedition, which could have consequences for exiled former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont. Sedition was removed as a crime in the past mandate, and Puigdemont now only faces charges of misuse of public funds, which would bring lesser potential prison time. 

Another central pillar of Vox's electoral program is to get rid of the ministry of equality and roll back many of the laws in this area, including legislation on gender-based violence, abortion, the sexual consent law, and the trans law. 

In addition, Vox pledges to remove all funding for organizations and institutions related to LGBT rights, historical memory, and climate change programs. 

If in power, the party also plans to roll back on most of the Spanish government's climate measures, including repealing the climate change law, and the party has also proposed pulling out of the Paris Agreement that aims to limit global warming.

The far-right party also promises to deport immigrants living in irregular situations, while fiscally, they promise historic tax cuts.