If there is a party that owes its growth to social networks, that is Vox. In a few years, Santiago Abascal and a small group of faithful went from gathering a few dozen people at their rallies to deciding on a historic change of government in Andalusia and, later, to having 52 deputies in Congress. In the early stages of the game, when the little they could do was spread the word on Twitter or Instagram, Iván Espinosa de los Monteros was there.
Others, who now rule, got on the car later, when there was already water in the pool. That is why the goodbye of the already exporting parliamentary speaker is a serious setback for Vox. It represents the departure of a charismatic founder, a recognizable face with a strong following among his voters and, in addition, a complex replacement.
In the absence of self-criticism in Vox about what happened on 23-J, yesterday the social networks were considering what could be behind Espinosa’s slamming of the door. Fire friend? Everything indicates that yes, there was no room in this Vox for him. To know the inside story, you have to read Joaquín Vera, who on June 25 headlined in La Vanguardia: “The civil war in Vox has a winner.” The winner? Jorge Buxade. The ousted? Thorny.
That something is happening in Vox is evident in view of the cold farewell to Espinosa de los Monteros in Congress. Twitter was in charge of repeating an intervention by the announcer Federico Jiménez Losantos, very critical of Abascal’s formation lately. He was talking about a victory for the El Yunque organization. It has been, they say, the defeat of the most moderate, among whom was Espinosa.
The fact is that the networks spent the day entertaining with Espinosa and his departure from Vox. The joy has not lasted long in a party that on Sunday boasted of having wrested an agreement from the PP in Aragon, imposing its postulates with the reform of the Gender Violence law or the Democratic Memory law and that 48 hours later lost one of its their main claims.
Since the networks give so much, there was also room for humor. Some user mentioned Toni Cantó and highlighted that at Vox there is now a vacancy for him, used to changing acronyms.
Vox is headed for a bleak future. The challenge is not only to live with a PP that must swallow him if he wants to one day recover Moncloa. His challenge is that the most recalcitrant postulates do not prevail. Society will appreciate it.
