The Spanish far-right party Vox has threatened to collapse ruling coalitions with the centre-right People’s Party (PP) in protest of an agreement to transfer about 400 underage migrants from the Canary Islands to mainland Spain.
The PP, which governs five regions in coalition with Vox, agreed to the central Socialist government’s plan to relocate some of the 6,000 unaccompanied underage migrants currently in the Canaries, who arrived from West Africa.
“Today (the People’s Party) has blown up (regional) government deals, welcoming voluntarily 400 underage migrants,” Vox leader Santiago Abascal wrote on X on Wednesday. “Do not count on us to scam, loot and endanger Spaniards.”
It is unclear whether the PP can continue governing alone in the five regions or if by-elections will be necessary.
In Spain’s decentralized system, regions manage critical government responsibilities such as healthcare and education. Vox has also supported PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo in his unsuccessful bid to become prime minister.
Founded in 2012, Vox is now Spain’s third-largest party, campaigning on patriotism, Spanish unity, and opposition to African migration.
The far-right made gains in recent European elections by focusing on concerns about the cost of living, green policies, and migration. However, Vox’s share of the vote in Spain’s recent European Parliament elections fell compared to the previous national election last July.
A surge in migrant arrivals from West Africa to the Canary Islands, with over 16,500 arrivals in the first five months of 2024, has strained the archipelago’s infrastructure, according to Regional Policy Minister Angel Victor Torres.
Underage migrants traveling alone to Spain are entitled to government protection and aid. Torres noted that the Canaries, along with Ceuta and Melilla (Spanish enclaves on Morocco’s north coast), have been primarily responsible for their care, with only a few dozen transferred to mainland Spain in the past three years.
Vox argues that many migrants labeled as underage are actually older and that aid should be directed towards Spaniards instead.