Vox rides high in Spain over Ceuta backlash

 Financial Times Europe 8 Sep 2026 BARNEY JOPSON AND CARMEN MUELA — MADRID

 In a new sign of rightwing parties cap it al ising on anger over immig ra tion, a poll yes ter day showed that Vox — which takes a hard line stance — is ranked as the most “capable” of man aging the issue, includ ing by some main stream con ser vat ive voters. The poll from 40dB under scores the toll the Ceuta crisis is tak ing on Sánchez, one of the few European lead ers who con tin ues to espouse a lib eral immig ra tion policy, less than a year before the coun try’s next gen eral elec tion. The leftwing leader has been thrown on to the defens ive by short com ings in his gov ern ment’s man age ment after more than 70,000 people swam and rushed illeg ally into the Span ish exclave from Morocco in late July. 

Nearly six weeks on, the crisis remains unre solved. Between 5,000 and 10,000 migrants remain in the north African ter rit ory with a pop u la tion of 83,000. Many are liv ing rough and ten sions are flar ing with loc als over insec ur ity and strains on pub lic ser vices. Vox, Spain’s third-largest party, has a long stand ing strategy of chan nel ling and stok ing dis con tent over illegal immig ra tion and Spain’s Muslim pop u la tion. The Ceuta crisis has played into its hands per fectly, ana lysts say. 

Last week, Santiago Abascal, Vox’s leader, branded Sánchez a “traitor” who had allowed Ceuta to be “taken by force”.

 He also cri ti cised the premier for “not dar ing to either denounce [Morocco] or to take any retali at ory action” against it over the crisis. Morocco has denied any role in plan ning or facil it at ing the surge of migrants on July 30. Des pite Span ish police invest ig a tions point ing to the involve ment of the Moroc can secur ity forces, Sánchez told par lia ment lastweek there was “no solid evid ence” that Morocco had planned or con trolled the influx. Accord ing to 40dB, 27 per cent of Span iards rate Vox as the party best equipped to man age immig ra tion, ahead of Sánchez’s Social ist Party on 18.4 per cent and the con ser vat ive People’s Party (PP) on 13.9 per cent. Vox is primed to become a king maker in the next elec tion as polls sug gest the PP — which 40dB says leads with 32.4 per cent of the vote — will need Vox’s sup port to attain a par lia ment ary major ity.

After eight years in power, the sur vey under lined the uphill struggle Sánchez faces to win another elec tion, with sup port for his Social ist Party fall ing slightly since July to 27.6 per cent. Some 63 per cent of Span iards said that Sánchez had per formed “badly” or “very badly” dur ing the crisis, accord ing to 40dB. Paco Camas, head of pub lic opin ion in Spain for polling firm Ipsos, said: “This crisis is going to drag on. It is going to be a much longer-last ing issue than any other crisis.”