Vox expels co-founder Iván Espinosa de los Monteros after internal rebellion

The expulsion announcement

Iván Espinosa de los Monteros, one of the founders of Vox and its most visible parliamentary figures, announced on Wednesday that the party had officially informed him of his expulsion. In a video published on the social network X, the former deputy reacted to the decision of the formation led by Santiago Abascal with a nostalgic message that traced the milestones of the party from its beginnings in 2012.

“I cannot say I was surprised, but, honestly, it made me a little sad.”

The expulsion did not catch him off guard. In an earlier interview, Espinosa de los Monteros had said of the expected disciplinary outcome,

“I do not fear it, but I count on it.”

Internal conflict and disciplinary file

The expulsion is the culmination of a disciplinary file that Vox opened against him in March. The proceedings began after Espinosa de los Monteros spearheaded a critical movement calling for the party to be "rethought" and launched a signature collection demanding an extraordinary congress. His resignation as parliamentary spokesperson following the 2023 general elections had already dealt a blow to the liberal wing he represented within the party.

The former deputy, who was member number five of the formation, recounted in the video the early days when they were "very few" and had to multiply their presence to enter the public debate.

“It was worth it, and I will continue to defend the same ideas and freedom.”

A string of purges and departures

Espinosa de los Monteros is not alone. His expulsion adds to a list of prominent figures who have left or been purged from Vox. José Ángel Antelo, the removed president of Vox in Murcia who left the party in May, replied to the video on the same social network thanking Espinosa for his "effort for and on behalf of Spain" and adding that "the best is yet to come." Others in the same drift include former Madrid city council spokesperson Javier Ortega Smith and former Castile and León vice-president Juan García-Gallardo.

Espinosa de los Monteros, now president of the Atenea foundation, a think tank he launched in September 2025 that brought together a large representation of the Spanish right and far-right, closed his video with the song 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' by U2.

“Goodbye and thank you.”

What comes next

The expelled former leader assured that his parliamentary stage was one of the most intense and hard of his political life and expressed his greatest recognition to all voters, public officials and party members of that period. He insisted that he will continue "in the defence of Spain" and that "the best is yet to come," a phrase that Antelo has echoed, hinting at new political ventures from the disaffected former Vox cadres.