Vox's 29-N programme sets national priority, remittance tax and class quotas for pupils from other cultures

National priority and the campaign calendar

Vox published its programme for the 29 November general election on Thursday, 12 November, a document organised in 13 sections. It keeps many positions the party defended in earlier campaigns and adds new measures on migration and access to public services. The text builds on 'national priority', which the party applies to the economy, healthcare, education and borders, and by one count the word 'españoles' appears 41 times. Santiago Abascal's party opens its campaign with a rally at Plaza de Colón in Madrid on Friday, 13 November.

Benefits, levies and residence rules

The programme gives Spaniards preferential access to transport aid, grants, social services, public housing, nursery places and canteen vouchers. It would limit the Minimum Vital Income (IMV) to Spaniards with fewer resources, and under current rules the benefit requires legal and effective residence in Spain for the previous year, according to El Mundo. The programme states the change in plain terms.

“The Minimum Vital Income will only meet the needs of Spaniards with fewer resources.”

A levy on money sent abroad from Spain is also included, which ABC reports is the first time Vox has placed this measure in a programme, with the revenue meant to improve services for people living in Spain. The plan to facilitate the return of foreigners who do not contribute or depend on public subsidies would reach people who live in Spain legally as well. Abascal has said there would be exceptions, such as people who have just lost their jobs, but the text does not spell them out.

Migration, Ceuta and Morocco

Abascal has said that if Vox wins 176 seats in Congress, its first step would be to recover Ceuta, protect Melilla, expel the 'invaders' immediately and militarise the border. The framing draws on the mass entry of migrants into Ceuta on 30 and 31 July. A party chant on the issue runs as follows.

“We are not to blame for having suffered an invasion.”

On Morocco, the programme proposes sanctions and the suspension of international agreements over the use of migration as a hybrid war weapon, so that Morocco 'respects the borders and sovereignty of Spain'. Irregular migrants would lose all social aid and public healthcare except in serious cases, and checks would stop them renting a flat or room. The party also calls for mass deportations and tougher requirements for citizenship.

Schools and classroom quotas

The education chapter sets a maximum number of pupils per classroom for those 'from other cultures' or with insufficient Spanish. It gives no figure for the cap and does not explain how pupils would be identified. Late arrivals would attend catch-up classrooms until they reach 'the level the party considers necessary'. El País notes that similar classes have existed in Spain since early this century but aim only at a basic language level. Vox would also ban the burka and niqab in public services and schools, end halal menus in school canteens, and scrap the Arabic Language and Moroccan Culture programme.

El País links the proposals to Europe, noting that Giorgia Meloni's Italian government approved in late September a 30% limit on foreign pupils per classroom. The German AfD has proposed separate classes for children from refugee families.

Justice, parties and institutions

The justice chapter proposes restoring the crime of sedition, toughening penalties for embezzlement and banning pardons for political corruption and crimes against the form of the state or territorial integrity. Parties and organisations of any kind that threaten Spain's sovereignty and independence would be outlawed, and insults to national symbols such as the Crown would carry harsher penalties. Twelve members of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) would be chosen by judges in a 'personal, direct and secret' vote. On corruption, the programme would audit all public administrations and require convicted officials to answer with all their present and future assets for diverted funds. The programme does not address abortion, LGTBIQ+ rights or gender violence.