Rise of Vox - Far-right hopes to ride wave of nationalism

The man all but certain to be the next mayor of Rascafría, a small town in the green and mist-hugged mountains an hour north of Madrid, gives few clues about his political leanings as he lists his priorities for the coming years.

- Sam Jones

As well as helping the hospitality and livestock sectors on which the local economy depends, Óscar Robles wants to improve leisure and culture for Rascafría’s ill-served young people and to reopen a social club for its older residents that has been closed since before the Covid pandemic.

“This campaign has been very honest, very on the ground and very calm,” said the 59-year-old print business owner. “We haven’t got into ideological arguments with anyone. I don’t care what colour you are; if you’re a neighbour, I’m here to help you.”

The only unmistakable evidence of his party affiliation is to be found on the double-headed placards that still loom over Rascafría’s cold, rainy streets and which show his smiling face alongside that of Rocío Monasterio, Vox’s leader in the Madrid region.

The pair, and their far-right party, have much to smile about in the wake of last month’s municipal and regional polls in Spain and in the run-up to July’s snap general election. Robles’s quiet, hyper-local campaign – in stark contrast to the vituperative and sometimes xeno-phobic electoral tone in which Vox has come to specialise – looks set to deliver the party its first mayoralty in the region.