World

Spain: Ortega Smith joins Mixed Group and severs final ties with Vox

Herz — World Desk · 17 July 2026 at 15:00 · 30s summary · 2 min read

The essentials

Javier Ortega Smith, former secretary-general of Spain's far-right Vox party, requested on July 17, 2026 to join the Mixed Group (Grupo Mixto) in the Congress of Deputies, severing his last institutional link to Santiago Abascal's party. The move reduces Vox's parliamentary presence to 32 deputies. In his farewell letter to Abascal, Ortega Smith accuses the party leadership of betraying Vox's founding values and "sequestering" the party, its activists, and grassroots base. He maintains an ongoing legal challenge against his expulsion and has not ruled out founding a new political movement.

On July 17, 2026, Ortega Smith requested transfer to the Mixed Group of the Spanish Congress of Deputies.
Vox now has 32 deputies in the lower house following Ortega Smith's departure.
He accuses Abascal of "sequestering" the party and betraying its founding values.
Ortega Smith's legal challenge against his expulsion from Vox remains pending in court.
He has not ruled out founding a new political party to advance his vision for Spain.

Espagne : Ortega Smith rejoint le Grupo Mixto et rompt son dernier lien avec Vox — Pomsoe, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

What we know

Javier Ortega Smith, former secretary-general of Spain's Vox party, filed a request on July 17, 2026 with the Congress of Deputies' board to transfer to the Mixed Group. According to El País, this move represents the final severance of his institutional ties to Santiago Abascal's party.

Following Ortega Smith's departure, Vox now holds 32 seats in Spain's lower house of Parliament.

Vox deputies in Congress of Deputies after Ortega Smith's departure

Ortega Smith had already left the Vox group at Madrid's municipal council after a judge refused to suspend the expulsion proceedings initiated against him by the party. He has since sat among the unaffiliated members (no adscritos) of the municipal assembly.

The farewell letter to Abascal

In a letter to Santiago Abascal, Ortega Smith describes his decision to leave the parliamentary group as "one of the most difficult decisions of his life."

one of the most difficult decisions of his life
— Javier Ortega Smith, letter to Santiago Abascal, July 17, 2026

He accuses the party leadership of betraying Vox's founding values and "sequestering" the party, its activists, and grassroots base.

A historical precedent invoked

Ortega Smith's letter explicitly mirrors one that Abascal himself sent to People's Party president Mariano Rajoy on November 24, 2013 to announce his resignation.

That resignation preceded the founding of Vox by Abascal and other former PP leaders, including Alejo Vidal-Quadras.

What remains uncertain

Ortega Smith is maintaining a legal challenge against his expulsion from Vox. The proceedings remain pending before the courts.

He has not ruled out founding a new party, stating his intention to find "the most appropriate and effective means to make his voice heard in favor of Spain."

At Madrid's municipal council, Ignacio Ansaldo—holder of Vox membership card number 1—temporarily replaces Ortega Smith as spokesman. Council member Carla Toscano is also undergoing party expulsion proceedings.

The formal institutional definitions of the terms "Grupo Mixto" and "Mesa del Congreso" could not be verified by independent encyclopedic sources in the preparation of this article.