Alex Trelinski
THE FAR-RIGHT Vox party has been ordered to take down a Madrid poster in which symbols representing feminism, communism, the LGBTQ community, squatters, and the Catalunya independence flag are being thrown away as if they area rubbish.
The huge poster has been hung outside a building on Calle de Alcala in the capital since June 17, as a way of kicking off the party’s election campaign for July 23 with the slogan ‘Decide what is important’.
It was removed by workers at around 1.30 pm on Tuesday but there has been no comment from Vox.
A complaint was filed with the Madrid Electoral Board by the PSOE Socialists and the banner has to be taken down before midnight- not because of its content but because it fell foul of electoral law.
Because the poster calls for votes outside an electoral campaign, it is illegal, since campaigning for the July 23 general election cannot start until 16 days before election day.
The Electoral Board which upheld the complaint said the installation of the banner ‘is not justified’ within the ordinary activities of the party and ruled that the slogan ‘Decide what is important’ has the ‘intention of persuading’ voters to support Vox.
They made no comment on the content and emphasised their remit was to make rulings in accordance with electoral law.
Last week Partido Popular spokesperson, Borja Semper, distanced himself from the Vox poster saying that the ‘PP does not want to throw anybody into the trash’ and would ‘not be contaminated by aggression’.
That said, if opinion polls are correct, the PP would likely to have to strike some kind of deal with Vox after the July 23 vote if it wants to form a government.
READ MORE:
- Spain’s Popular Party distances itself from Vox ad throwing feminism and the LGBTQ+ flag in the bin
- Far-right Vox-led council bans gay ‘rainbow’ flag from public buildings in Valencia area town in Spain
- Partido Popular leader Feijoo says deal with Vox in Spain’s Valencia region was only way to avoid new elections
- As general elections approach, conservative Popular Party struggles with uneasy bedfellow Vox
