With or without you? The strategic inclusion of Latin American immigrants in VOX electoral speeches

While populist radical right-wing parties (PRRPs) generally attract male, white (native-born) voters with chauvinistic and anti-immigrant views, evidence from Spain and other Western European countries suggests that such parties can also attract atypical voter groups. This article explores the strategies employed by VOX, Spain’s main PRRP, to appeal to one of those groups: Latin American immigrants. Focusing on VOX, we propose the concept of ‘strategic inclusivity’ to understand how the party navigates the contradictions between its electoral ambition and the exclusionary character of its ideological DNA. To investigate this exclusion-inclusion contradiction, we analyse a corpus of 48 speeches by VOX leaders delivered in the run up to the 2023 general elections. Combining a machine-learning method with a qualitative analysis, we examine VOX’s discourse on Latin American immigrants, shedding light on how the party constructs narratives to appeal to this group even when constrained by the limits of nativist and authoritarian ideas.