Far-Right Vox Party Stirs Controversy with Anti-Immigrant Poster in Madrid Election Campaign

This poster of the far-right party is visible on the walls of a suburban train station in Madrid, reports AFP, describing that it shows side by side, a woman, of advanced age, with white hair, rather ugly-looking, and an excited young man, with a headdress on his head, his mouth hidden under a scarf and his eyes pixelated. In the middle of the two, the media continues, a striking message: "A Mena (unaccompanied foreign minor), 4,700 euros per month, your grandmother, 426 euros pension/month". Thus, unaccompanied migrant minors, one of Vox’s main campaign themes, are still in the sights of the leaders of this party who accuse them of theft or assault.

The poster has sparked a flood of reactions: it is "an attack on the most vulnerable children in our country," fumed the Minister of Social Rights, Ione Belarra. Following her, through a joint statement, the NGOs Caritas, Unicef and Save the Children, condemned a political "instrumentalization". Furthermore, the left-wing government of Pedro Sánchez, as well as several citizens, have referred the matter to the Madrid prosecutor’s office, which opened an investigation on Wednesday for incitement to hatred, the same source said.

Even Isabel Diaz Ayuso, the conservative president since 2019, thanks to the votes of Vox, and a candidate for re-election, and who does not rule out a new agreement, did not hide her indignation, declaring on Wednesday that what Vox claims on this poster is not "true" and is "out of place". She is also the subject of strong pressure urging her to distance herself from any alliance with this party after the election, if she were to resort to it to ensure her re-election.

But that unaccompanied minors could receive such a sum! Nothing of the kind, the regional authorities contacted by AFP have rejected.