Who is Vox leader Santiago Abascal?

Born in Bilbao in 1976, Santiago Abascal completed his university studies at the University of Deusto, where he graduated as a sociologist in 2003. An influential social media figure with more than 240,000 followers on Instagram, he is married to Lidia Bedman and has four children.

His political career and his ability to mobilise conservative sectors have significantly transformed the Spanish political landscape in the last decade. Abascal has also left his mark in the intellectual sphere through the Foundation for the Defence of the Spanish Nation (Denaes), which he founded in 2006, and the Disenso Foundation, where he serves as president.

Political career: increasingly right-wing

Abascal’s political career began in 1994 in the conservative Partido Popular (PP), where he held various positions of responsibility, including on the Álava provincial committee and the presidency of the party’s youth wing.

However, his disagreements over policy with former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, especially on issues related to ETA and Catalan independence, led him to leave the PP in 2013.

The turning point in Abascal’s career came with the founding of Vox, the far-right party he chairs, which has transformed the Spanish political scene. Under his leadership, Vox achieved a historic milestone in 2018 gaining parliamentary representation in Andalusia, becoming the first nationalist party to win regional seats since 1975.

Abascal’s influence in Spanish politics is reflected in his ability to mobilise his followers and generate public debate.** While experts point out that his support base is relatively limited compared to the overall population, his impact on national political discourse is significant.

His leadership of Vox, renewed until 2028, has been instrumental in establishing the party as a relevant actor in Spanish politics, although analysts consider that the PP remains the dominant force in the centre-right spectrum.

The party he leads has managed to position itself as the third political force in the Spanish Congress of Deputies, obtaining 33 seats in the 2023 elections. In addition, Vox has managed to form part of regional governments in coalition with the PP in regions such as the Valencian Community, Extremadura and the Balearic Islands.

Political vision and international projection

Abascal has built a network of international alliances with prominent conservative leaders, including links with Donald Trump, Meloni, Javier Milei and Viktor Orbán. His political vision focuses mainly on:

• Defending national unity
• Migration control
• Reform of European institutions

Last summer the party organised a Vox VIVA24 rally in which other significant right-wing world figures such as Milei, already president of Argentina, and Viktor Orbán, among others, were present.