VOX leader Santiago Abascal delivered a scathing rebuke to the People’s Party (PP) this past Monday for promoting a demonstration against Pedro Sánchez’s government, scheduled for this coming Sunday, June 8th, while continuing to uphold key agreements with the socialists in Brussels.
The timing of the protest has not gone unnoticed: it coincides with the Madrid Economic Forum, a high-profile international conservative event featuring the presence of Argentine President Javier Milei, whose visit threatens to overshadow the PP’s demonstration.
“It’s a political fraud. You cannot denounce Sánchez as a threat to Spain and simultaneously support him in the European Parliament,” Abascal declared in a television interview. “The People’s Party poses as opposition in Madrid but cooperates in Brussels. How can we take their narrative seriously when they vote with the PSOE 90% of the time in European decisions?” he added.
The VOX leader emphasized that the ongoing collaboration between the PP and the Socialists within European institutions undermines any coherent national opposition. According to him, the alliance between the European People’s Party and the Social Democrats has been instrumental in sustaining the “criminal” policies of Sánchez’s government, including those tied to the European Green Deal, which Abascal blames for contributing to disasters such as the recent DANA flood in the Valencian Community.
Abascal once again denounced an “illegitimate government,” accusing the PSOE of using every power mechanism to cling to office, with no ethical or legal limits. “The worst of Sánchez is still to come,” he warned, stressing the need for an alternative that breaks entirely with the socialists, including on the European stage. In this regard, he extended an olive branch to the PP—but with one clear condition: a complete break with the PSOE in Brussels.
Abascal’s criticism gains weight as the PP appears more focused on competing with VOX and other voices of the emerging global conservative movement than offering a coherent and credible alternative to Sánchez’s rule. The coincidence of the PP’s protest with the international forum where Milei will take center stage has been interpreted by some analysts as an attempt to overshadow the event’s media impact and prevent VOX from reaping the benefits.
This is not the first demonstration against the PSOE government initiated by the Popular Party and its affiliated organizations—each increasingly smaller and less convincing. With this move, the PP risks appearing to its voters as a party trapped in a double game: loud opposition at home and quiet complicity in Europe.
