Hard-right Vox party fails to disclose identity of lender of €9 million election loan

The hard-right Vox party is allegedly violating Spanish law by hiding a €9.2 million bank loan used to finance its 2023 election campaigns, El País reported on Monday (16 September), while the party says it wants to protect lenders from 'stigma'. 

According to the Spanish newspaper, Vox had to ask for two bank loans to finance its campaigns for Spain’s 2023 municipal and general elections for the first time in its ten-year history.

According to Vox's own data, the party received a credit of €6.5 million for the general elections, which it later extended to €192,082, and another credit of €2.6 million for the municipal elections.

Article 14.8 of the Spanish Law on the Financing of Political Parties mandates that all political parties must publish the balance sheet, profit and loss account, outstanding loans, repayment, interest, and the name of the bank or banks providing financial support on their website. Vox, however, did not reveal the names of its lenders.

"We do not want to contribute to the demonisation of specific banks for having lent money to Vox,” said a party's spokesperson to El País, adding that "the information published on the website is what should be made public."

On Monday afternoon, Vox spokesman José Antonio Fúster defended the legality of the party's financing, asserting that the Spanish Court of Auditors has all the information it needs on the loans it requested in the 2023 financial year.

"Whoever has to know knows”, Fúster insisted at a press conference that he refused to name the entities with which the party had contracted several loans last year.

"In the history of democracy, there has not been a party stricter in terms of compliance with the law and transparency than VOX”, Fúster added, EFE reported.

However, El País reports that sources close to the party point say the real reason for withholding the details may be linked to the party’s close ties with Hungarian banks close to Orbán.

Shortly after the 9 June European elections, Vox left the Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group led by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and joined Orbán's Patriots for Europe (PfE) group. 

Vox's lack of transparency could have important legal consequences for the party, as failure to comply with these financial obligations is considered a severe infraction under Spanish law.

Moreover, this is not the first time the party's finances have been scrutinised. On 9 July, Spain's Court of Auditors sanctioned the party for serious violations of the Law on Party Financing related to €233,324 in donations received in 2018 and 2019, including funds tied to the separatist movement in Catalonia, Euractiv reported.

[Edited by Martina Monti]