The appointment with Jorge Buxadé (Barcelona, 48 years old) is at 9:15 p.m. on Monday in a hotel in Alicante, where he has just shared a meeting with Santiago Abascal. The day has been long. In the morning she participated in a debate between candidates for the European elections organized by SER and EL PAÍS, one of the few of the entire campaign. He wears a cap, which protects him from the sun and helps him go unnoticed, and he wears a cross on his neck, visible on election posters. It is the first time that a Vox leader in a national election has agreed to be interviewed by this newspaper.
Ask. Why did you give us this interview?
Answer. Because I am in an electoral campaign and I believe that the readers of EL PAÍS have the right to listen to me and I have the duty to explain to all Spaniards what Europe is, the bad that has been done in the previous legislature and the good that we can do.
Q. On other occasions, we have not been able to interview Vox candidates…
R. For me, on other occasions…
Q. Is it because, as their campaign slogan says, “they are going to hear us” and the PP does not want to be heard?
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R. Neither the PP nor the PSOE have any interest. None of them want it to be known that 90% of the time they have voted the same in Brussels.
Q. Will they support the motion of censure with which Alberto Núñez Feijóo threatens?
R. Feijóo is a little confused. We presented two motions of censure. In the first he voted against; and in the second he abstained. It is another strategy to not talk about Europe.
Q. Marine Le Pen has called for all parties of the same ideology to unite in a single group that could be the second in the European Parliament.
R. We believe that the union is necessary. It is essential that we are all together and, if we conclude that the best way to cooperate is to be in a single group in the European Parliament, we will work for it like anyone else.
Q. But in both groups [Identidad y Democracia, y Conservadores y Reformistas Europeos] There are parties that compete with each other in their countries…
R. We must fight for this alliance of parties because we all come together in a common enemy, which we can call globalist socialism. Beyond differences, it is something that unites all of us who were in Vistalegre [el mitin del pasado 19 de mayo, con Javier Milei, Giorgia Meloni, Le Pen, Orbán y Abascal]. That spirit of Vistalegre must be brought to Brussels.
Q. Why is Alternative for Germany “out of the equation”, in your words?
R. Because they themselves have come out with those statements from their leader [quien defendió a los miembros de las SS nazis]. Even those in your own group [ID de Le Pen] They got them out… If they want to get back in they will have to do things.
Q. Would you join your group? [el agitador] Does Alvise Pérez obtain a seat as many polls predict?
R. Let’s talk about June 9…
Q. What would you say to someone who doubts whether to vote for Vox or Alvise?
R. I don’t know what Alvise says… we have very clear ideas, we can make mistakes but we don’t deceive anyone, we don’t betray, we are not disloyal to our voters.
Q. They have said that they will not support Ursula von der Leyen. What if she agrees on her re-election with the Italian prime minister, to whom both she and Feijóo have already winked?
R. We will vote no. With Vox’s votes he will not be president. Von der Leyen is campaigning, looking for votes, and Feijóo doesn’t hear anything.
Q. Vox wants to repeal the European pact on migration and asylum.
R. A partial repeal. Let’s save Eurodac [base europea de datos de inmigrantes irregulares].
Q. His ally Meloni supported the pact…
R. Not all.
Q. Meloni voted in favor in seven of the 10 votes and Vox in two.
R. He is Prime Minister of Italy and leads a coalition with Forza Italia and the League. These three parties, once the Government’s position is established, vote almost identically in the European Parliament.
Q. Vox makes a speech on immigration similar to Meloni’s and hers is confronting reality. She has been governing for almost two years and recognizes that she is not satisfied with the results. Maybe it’s not so easy…
R. Nobody has said it will be easy, but you have to get to it. Meloni has produced a brutal drop in illegal entries into Italy.
Q. My information is not that. Last year, by sea, 157,000 immigrants arrived in Italy, three times as many as in Spain…
R. There is told the great crisis of Lampedusa. Later, when she solves it, the one who takes the record is Spain.
Q. Not with the closed data for 2023.
R. Agreements must be reached with third countries and that takes time.
Q. Vox proposes “regional disembarkation platforms” for immigrants rescued at sea.
R. It is about welcoming those who intend to enter Europe in their countries of origin. It is a proposal from the European Commission that it later abandoned. There the screening is done. We cannot do it on European soil because, once they step on it, we have an added problem.
Q. Meloni has reached an agreement to do so in Albania. Where would Vox do it?
R. In Morocco, in Mauritania…
Q. Do you think Morocco would accept it?
R. Isn’t the united action of the EU supposed to give us more strength? The problem is that Morocco does not accept the return of its nationals, it is not complying and on top of that we pay it 1.6 billion. It is the main partner of [Pedro] Sánchez and Von der Leyen. We have to sit down to negotiate, but we will have to suspend trade agreements, use all the diplomatic force of the EU, which is not being done now.
Q, Albania, Meloni’s partner country, is a candidate to join the EU. Will they support your entry?
R. The expansion has its procedures, we will see. It is a Muslim-majority country and that poses a serious problem, of course.
Q. You say that “the essence of Europe is Christianity.”
R. Not only me, many European philosophers until the 20th century.
Q. Can a Muslim country join the EU?
R. On departure, no. Muslims can practice their religion in Europe, but without trying to impose their customs or norms. Islam is not just a religion, it is a way of life, a legislation. It is incompatible with the West, they are two civilizations that confront each other.
Q. In its program, Vox asks to limit family reunification to cases in which there is “an exceptional situation of helplessness of the minor.” What happens to Latin American women who come to Spain as domestic workers and want to bring their children? They are legal immigrants.
R. Limiting is not prohibiting. It is establishing clear rules. If the father is with the minor in Ecuador, for example, family support is not broken.
Q. You want to prohibit irregular immigrants from registering, which leaves them without the right to education or health care, except in cases of “vital urgency.”
R. …and preventative care, which would be if someone is not vaccinated.
Q. It’s good that I clarify it because it is not in the program.
R. It’s in development, I think.
Q. The parents are irregular immigrants, but what about the children? Does it leave them unschooled? Without medical care?
R. They go with their parents. They will not come anymore, because they have been promised paradise.
Q. I’m not talking about social aid, but about medical assistance.
R. In a vital emergency situation, they will have it.
Q. And pediatric care…
R. What is the youngest doing here? He returns to his place of origin…
Q. Meanwhile…
R. They will have to return to their country. When they say on Facebook that Spain is no longer a health paradise, school or anything, they will stop coming.
Q. You want to repeal the European Parliament resolution that calls for including abortion in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
R. Undoubtedly.
Q. And include in the same letter the right to life “from conception to natural death.” Does that mean banning abortion and euthanasia throughout Europe?
R. It means guaranteeing the right to life from conception to natural death. And period. From there, the jurisdiction lies with the States. What is the European bureaucracy doing getting involved in this? A left-wing European Parliament seeks to establish a new law.
Q. You criticize in your book Globalism [Homo Legens 2024] that the European Commission promotes family planning.
R. What I am saying is that international organizations condition development aid on family planning programs and this seems hypocritical and immoral to me.
Q. What do you mean by the phrase “the concept of a desired pregnancy is an abomination”?
R. Again, the phrase is not from Vox, but from my book. It means that you cannot distinguish between wanted or unwanted pregnancies. They will be term or non-term. Precisely, regarding the concept of unwanted pregnancy, the World Health Organization promotes that [la planificación familiar].
Q. Vox applauds Orbán’s birth support measures, which exempt those who have four children from paying personal income tax. You already have them and with your income level [según el Parlamento Europeo, 119.705 euros anuales], I would not pay personal income tax for life. Does he seem like a role model to you?
R. Yes of course.
Q. If you take personal income tax as a guideline, people who do not reach the minimum to have to pay taxes are left without public aid and you, who earn much more, do receive it.
R. I do not receive help from the State nor do I want it.
Q. If you didn’t pay personal income tax, you would receive it.
R. Because I contribute with four children to the future of the Nation. In addition, there would be a rate reduction for each child, it would not only benefit those who have four.
Q. In Poland, where their Law and Justice partners governed, universal cash aid was paid for each child, also to poor families that did not pay taxes.
R. We believe that tax deductions are more efficient and fair than aid.
Q. Mr. Juan Roig, owner of Mercadona, would not pay personal income tax and his cashiers would.
R. The objective of this measure is to benefit birth rates, not tax justice. There are also taxes on tobacco that are not intended to collect revenue, but rather to discourage consumption.
Q. The amnesty law has already been approved, pending publication in the BOE. You maintain that judges can refuse to apply it.
R. There are two rulings from the EU Court of Justice that tell Polish judges that they can stop applying a law in their country because it is manifestly contrary to the values of the Union. This doctrine can be put into practice in Spain.
Q. That is not the same as referring a question for a preliminary ruling to the European court…
R. No, that is directly inapplicable [la ley].
Q. Declare in rebellion.
R. No. What I am saying is: this is a doctrine that has been established by the EU Court of Justice. Use yourself.
Q. If you were active as a State lawyer and you had to apply the amnesty law, what would you do?
R. I would ask for the change [de destino].
Q. What is your personal opinion about Blas Piñar [líder de la extrema derecha española durante la Transición]?
R. [Eso es] Irrelevant.
Q. I ask you because you quote a phrase by Blas Piñar in your book when talking about Hispanidad.
R. He is a relevant politician of the Transition, who made extraordinary speeches, with great oratory, that is why I quote him; among many others.
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