A poster announcing a concert series in the Basque regional capital of Bilbao depicted VOX leader Santiago Abascal with blood spurting from his neck.
The poster appeared on social media during the city’s annual festival week in August.
As typically happens, there was an alternative festival program organised outside of the official one sponsored, financed, and controlled by the city hall and often associated with radical groups, according to the Spanish newspaper Vozpópuli, which was the first to report on the menacing poster.
The announcement uses an image of Abascal as the main visual element. He is riding in a convertible as if in a parade, and a red stain, evocative of blood, emerges from the nape of his neck. The scene is suggestive of the politician receiving a shot from behind.
Abascal is Basque and a third-generation politician. His family received multiple threats from the Basque terrorist group ETA before it disarmed and disbanded in the early 2000s.
Also typically part of the unofficial festival program are antics reminiscent of ETA or demonstrations of support for ETA convicts still in prison.
Vozpópuli also reported that last weekend a group walked through the streets of the city, calling for amnesty for ETA prisoners.
