Do we like them?

Do we like Santiago Abascal?

Our score: 1 out of 10. A long, loud run of anti-migrant, anti-trans-law and climate-dismissive campaigning of his own, with no verified good to set against it.

Abascal was born in Bilbao in 1976 and trained as a sociologist at Deusto. He joined the conservative Partido Popular in 1994 and left in 2013 after clashing with Mariano Rajoy over ETA and Catalan independence. He went on to found Vox and lead it, and won 33 seats in 2023, making Vox the third-largest force in Congress. His leadership has been renewed until 2028.

His recent campaign pitch leans on the idea that the system is being gamed. In May 2026 The Spanish Eye reported him claiming Pedro Sánchez would manipulate the 2027 election through mass immigration and citizenship grants, and the outlet called that claim absurd. In October, Maldita reported he urged Spaniards not to vote by post on 29 November, and that users amplified it as an election-integrity warning.

On harm, the record is his own words. In January 2026 he warned that “muchos más” migrants would be regularised and “después vendrán millones”. He has blamed “climate fanaticism” for the 2026 wildfire chaos. In 2023 his party promised to repeal Spain's trans law. He also leads Patriots for Europe, a bloc that includes Viktor Orbán's and Marine Le Pen's parties, whose leaders praised Donald Trump at a Madrid summit in 2025.

On 23 October he spoke at a rally in Maó, Menorca. The CGT union called a protest, and police charged a crowd of 200 to 300 people. Abascal called the protesters “Sánchez's militias” and accused them of threats and violence. Vox says about 300 people then surrounded its van, and a local youth group criticised the police action.

This isn't his first stoush with the law's attention. In January 2024 the Supreme Court prosecutor opened a preliminary inquiry after he said the public might want to hang Sánchez by the feet, following a complaint from the PSOE. We found no charge or conviction from that, and where it ended up isn't clear from what we read.

The good stuff is thin. We found no charity work or kind acts in the reporting we could open. That's honestly the whole list. His break with the PP over ETA is part of his story, but it's a political stance, not a kindness.