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Utah's Foremost Platform for Undergraduate Research Presentation
2021 Abstracts

La Reconquista: How VOX uses the political myth of the Catholic King’s “Reconquering”

Presenter: Madeline Talbot, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Global Communication
Authors: Madeline K Talbot
Faculty Advisor: Nicole Allen, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Global Communication
Institution: Utah State University

Spain resisted the rise of the far-right within their own borders long after the movement gained popularity in much of Western Europe, largely due to the political legacy of the infamous Franco dictatorship. However, this trend ended in 2008, with the rise and subsequent popularity of VOX. VOX is a rightist political party that has found popularity mostly is the south and west of Spain. This research project seeks to understand VOX’s successful rhetoric by focusing on VOX’s use of the Reconquista as a political myth. The project accomplishes this through an analysis articulation of Reconquista myth in their political advertisements focusing on the political affordance offered by their version of the political myth. Ultimately, this paper argues that VOX’s special work on the political myth of the Reconquista is uniquely anti-immigrant, especially focusing on immigrants from Muslim- majority nations, which allows them to tie their anti-immigrant rhetoric to the Catholic Kings instead of Franco. This was a unique political affordance allowed VOX to access rightist sentiments without directly calling on the WWII-era dictator. Avoiding Franco’s legacy gave VOX credibility for their political agenda, that while very similar to Franco’s in policy, still sidesteps the negative popular sentiment towards Franco.