Spain’s far-right Vox hits back at Rosalía over election jibe
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Version 0 of 1. Party invokes words of fascist philosopher in retaliation at singer’s ‘fuck Vox’ tweet Spain’s far-right Vox party has invoked the words of a fascist philosopher to hit back at Rosalía after the award-winning singer tweeted “fuck Vox” in response to the party’s surge in Sunday’s election. The Spanish singer and songwriter, whose modern twist on flamenco has made her a global star, vented her anger the day after Vox became the third biggest party in Spain’s congress. Vox retaliated by posting a picture of Rosalía on a plane to Las Vegas, accompanied by the caption: “Only millionaires like you who have private planes can permit themselves the luxury of not having a homeland.” The tweet paraphrased the words of Ramiro Ledesma Ramos, one of the key figures in the fascist Falange party. He was executed during the Spanish civil war but the movement went on to become part of the only legal party of the Franco era. It was the quote’s second outing in recent days. In a pre-election debate last week, Vox’s leader, Santiago Abascal, said: “Only the rich can permit themselves the luxury of not having a homeland.” Rosalía’s words had been retweeted almost 69,000 times and liked by more than 200,000 people by Tuesday lunchtime. Vox, which was founded six years ago by disgruntled members of the conservative People’s party, won 52 seats on Sunday, more than doubling its representation in parliament. Its surge was fuelled by the collapse of the centre-right Citizens party and by its aggressive opposition to Catalan independence. On Sunday night Abascal hailed the election result was a key moment in its culture war with the progressive left. “We have led a cultural and political change, because we have opened up all the forbidden debates and told the left that the story isn’t over yet and that they don’t have any moral superiority,” he said. Vox regularly rails against what it sees as the hegemony of political correctness and wants to repeal laws on gender-based violence. It has also called for a “reconquest” of Spain and for the building of an “unbreachable wall” around the north African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. In a recent interview, the president of the National Francisco Franco Foundation, which exists to preserve and promote the late dictator’s life and work, said Vox was now the party that best embodied Franco’s legacy. |