ARCHIVED - Murcia becomes a bastion of the far right wing

Vox polled more votes in Murcia than any other party in the general election on Sunday

One of the most significant aspects of the general election results on Sunday in Spain was the growth of support for the far right wing party Vox, and nowhere in the country was this more noticeable than in the Region of Murcia.

The party led by Santiago Abascal polled 199,440 votes, well over 50,000 more than in the previous general election in April and more than any other party in Murcia with a 28 per cent share of the vote. In no other region of Spain was the equivalent proportion higher than the 20.4 per cent in Andalucía, while in the north of the country the share was just 2.4 per cent in the Basque Country and under 8 per cent in Galicia, Catalunya and Navarra.

Their fellow right-wingers in the PP won the support of 188,870 Murcianos, an increase of around 9,000, while the PSOE, the most voted-for party in Spain, was backed by 176,246 voters in Murcia, representing a drop in support of around 13,000. As was the case in Spain as a whole the biggest losers in Murcia were Ciudadanos, originally formed to occupy the centre of the political spectrum but seemingly indecisive over which direction to take during the last year, whose vote fell from 150,000 to 53,000, while the left-wing Unidas Podemos group won 63,000 votes as opposed to almost 80,000 in April.

In terms of representation in the new national parliament, this means that Vox, the PP and the PSOE will each contribute 3 of the 10 MPs from the Region of Murcia, while Unidas Podemos retain their solitary MP.

Analysing the Murcia results in closer detail, it is clear that the majority support for Vox is localized, and is concentrated most noticeably in the south of the Region. The 16 municipalities where Vox polled more votes than any other group include Cartagena, Mazarrón, Totana, Alhama, Fuente Álamo, San Pedro del Pinatar and San Javier, and this may in part reflect their appeal to those who resent the large number of north Afrrican and South American immigrants who work in the crop fields of the Cartagena.

However, there is also strong support for the far right party in the regional capital and in municipalities just north of it: in Murcia the PP topped the voting but with only 500 or so more than Vox, while the more extreme party would have won in a “first past the post” system in Molina de Segura, Alcantarilla, Las Torres de Cotaillas, Ceutí, Alguazas, Cieza, Viilanueva del Río Segura, Abarán and Beniel.

Apart from the regional capital, the PP held sway in 14 other municipalities including Yecla, Ricote, Fortuna, Abanilla, Puerto Lumbreras and Aledo, while the 14 PSOE victories included Jumilla, Águilas, Lorca, Bullas and the rest of the north-west of the Region except Caravaca de la Cruz.

Image: Vox supporters toast their victory in Murcia

Follow Murcia Today on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest news, events and information in the Region of Murcia and the rest of Spain: https://www.facebook.com/MurciaToday/