The Spanish populist party VOX — newly boosted by a Trump endorsement — has called for Spain to hold referendums on several issues including illegal immigration, arguing that Spanish citizens should have a more direct say on policies.
VOX leader Santiago Abascal announced the proposals for the referendums during the Viva 22 event held in Madrid over the weekend, calling for a new Spanish national election to remove current leftist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez from power.
Abascal stated that his party wants to ask Spaniards if they want to see all illegal migrants deported along with those who come to Spain with the intention of carrying out crimes, Spanish newspaper El Mundo reports.
“That is, we will have to vote if we want secure borders, orderly immigration policies that protect our freedom, our security and our prosperity,” Abascal said.
The VOX leader proposed similar referendums on a number of other issues, including the outlawing of political parties that “threaten the unity and integrity of the nation.”
The comments came as the party and Abascal got a clear endorsement from 45th U.S. President Donald Trump who — speaking from his private plane — called the Vox leader “incredible”.
Trump said: “…the incredible job that [Santiago Abascal] does… we have to make sure protect our borders, and do lots of very good conservative things. Spain is a great country and we want to keep it a great country, so congratulations for VOX for so many great messages you get out to the people of Spain and the world… I would like to congratulate you, thank you very much for the incredible job that you do.”
In an interview with Breitbart London in 2019, Abascal stated his desire to see separatist parties in Spain, such as those in the region of Catalonia, banned.
“In the face of this nonsense, we must ask the Spaniards to decide if they want to sustain with their taxes parties that want to break Spain and promote racism or, on the contrary, if they want to ensure national cohesion,” Abascal said Sunday.
Energy is another major topic VOX wishes to take to Spanish voters directly, with Abascal arguing for a referendum on whether or not Spain should become energy independent and exploit the natural sources of energy in Spain, rather than rely on foreign energy.
Abascal’s proposals match those of French populist Marine Le Pen during her last campaign for the French presidency earlier this year. Le Pen also proposed a series of referendums on immigration in an effort to totally overhaul the country’s asylum and migration system.
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.