Unions are leading the opposition to Vox. | Joan Torres

TW

Unions are taking the lead in establishing a platform to confront what is seen as the rise of the far right. Representatives of the CCOO and UGT unions in the Balearics say that this platform will not include political parties and that its objective will be to make the public aware of the "danger posed by the rise of the far right" and of risks to rights that have been amassed over the past few decades.

Xisco Mellado, the CCOO secretary of communication, is expecting various associations to join the platform and other unions in order to "isolate the far right". These associations may well include the likes of the Obra Cultural Balear.

The election gains made by Vox in Andalusia last month have set the alarm bells ringing. The platform in the Balearics, explains Mellado, is not the result of similar actions being taken on the mainland but is "our own decision". The specific issue in the Balearics is with Actúa-Vox, the party led by Jorge Campos and which has nominated the retired general, Fulgencio Coll, to stand as mayor of Palma.

Among Vox policies are reductions in regional administrations' powers, repeal of the law of historical memory (which relates to the Civil War and the Franco regime), and change to language regulations.