The Far Right and the 'Gifts of Nature' in Rural Spain

Abstract

The 2018 Andalusian elections marked a watershed moment in Spain's democracy. Against all forecasts, Vox, founded in 2013 by disgruntled cadres of the Popular Party, the country's main conservative party, garnered 10 percent of the vote, thus becoming the first far-right party to enter a regional parliament and ushering in a new era in Spanish politics. Vox's meteoric rise culminated in the 2020 Spanish elections: the party won 15 percent of the vote and became the third-largest in the national parliament, a position that it has maintained since then despite its number of seats falling from 52 to 33 in the 2023 elections.