Abascal skips Madrid's 12 October parade to spend national day in Ceuta with Bardella

Abascal stays away from the Madrid parade

Santiago Abascal will not attend the military parade on 12 October in Madrid, leaving his seat in the authorities' stand empty for the second consecutive year, according to Vox sources cited by Europa Press. Last year he followed the parade from street level near Plaza de Colón, saying he did not want to share institutional events with President Pedro Sánchez so as not to 'legitimize' or 'whitewash' him. This year he will also skip the reception the King and Queen host afterwards, which El Confidencial says all the powers of the state are invited to, while Alberto Núñez Feijóo will attend as he does every year. Vox says the decision was agreed by consensus and communicated to the Zarzuela palace. Abascal said:

Institutional normality cannot and must not be feigned with an Executive that seeks to dynamite the rule of law from within the institutions.

Ceuta instead of Madrid

Abascal will spend the national day in Ceuta with Jordan Bardella. On Tuesday 13 October he is set to present Bardella at a breakfast briefing organized by Nueva Economía Fórum in Madrid. Abascal first went to Ceuta on 2 August, after a mass entry of migrants from Morocco that his party calls 'an invasion' sponsored by Morocco and sheltered by Sánchez's government. El Confidencial describes the city as not yet back to normal, with thousands of migrants lacking a clear destination or timeline for their situation. Feijóo travelled to the city last Wednesday for the fifth time, and Felipe VI and Letizia will visit Ceuta and Melilla on 13 and 14 October, inviting civil society representatives from both cities to the royal reception.

The parade on Monday

The parade takes place on Monday 12 October, a public holiday, and Madrid's City Council expects 80,000 spectators, fewer than in other years. The route repeats the one introduced in 2025, running from Paseo del Prado near the main entrance of the Botanical Garden to Plaza de Colón and passing Cibeles, with the royal stand on Plaza de Neptuno. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia arrive at 11:00, the parade is due to start around 12:00, the flag lowering is scheduled for 13:30, and official acts are due to end at 15:00.

Some 4,380 military personnel, 82 aircraft, 183 vehicles and 286 horses will take part. The program includes a jump by two paratroopers carrying the Spanish flag and a moment with the Legion's goat.

Uncertainty and the election backdrop

La Razón reports that the Guardia Civil has asked to suspend its events for the Virgen del Pilar on 12 October, a decision that would affect its institutional act on the university campus, and that the national day parade remains uncertain until the government confirms it. Other articles in the cluster treat the parade as scheduled. Vox's first pre-campaign rally for the 29 November elections is set for Sunday 11 October in Estepona, Málaga, before Abascal travels to Ceuta. Europa Press reports that Abascal is focusing on Ceuta rather than housing, the issue that dominates the pre-campaign, and El Confidencial notes that Feijóo has also made Ceuta one of his campaign priorities.