The until now president of Vox in the Region of Murcia, José Ángel Antelo, says he is aware that his dismissal has been “Santiago Abascal’s decision” and that he does not understand it. He assured this Friday on Onda Cero that this week the deputy general secretary of the ultra formation at the national level met with him to inform him “that he had to resign and that later he would be a candidate or even have a national spokesperson for Sports.” Antelo considers that this situation “is not good” for Vox in Murcia and affirms that he will continue in the regional Assembly.
In order to force his fall, the until now leader of the ultra party in the region has indicated that his colleagues called him and told him that “they were under a lot of pressure” to do so. In statements to the media in the town of Molina de Segura, the former regional president of the ultra formation has said that these situations “really are ridiculous and the only thing they do is damage the project and, especially, generate disaffection among voters.”
For now, Antelo has refused to resign as a regional deputy: “I am going to continue in the Assembly, today I am still a spokesperson, it is a decision of the party and we will see what it does,” he indicated before pointing out that he is unaware of the situation and that “we will see later, depending on events.” “Certain commitments must be fulfilled, especially the budget agreement, and I think it would not be acceptable to leave all those people who have bet on us for a situation that to this day I still do not understand,” he insisted.
The until now leader of Abascal’s party in the Region of Murcia has pointed out that he does not know whether to call himself “purged”, but that “the situation in Spain requires breadth and knowing that each person has their profile, that they can express things in a certain way.” “What this really makes me feel is sadness,” he expressed.
Likewise, he has defended his management based on the electoral results of the Region of Murcia: “In my case, the only thing I have dedicated myself to is working in the Region, people know me, they know perfectly well that I always keep my word, even if it leads me to be here today,” he said before ensuring that he has “no official communication” about his current situation in the party.
According to him, he has not spoken with Santiago Abascal these days, who spoke previously, but who “never” told him that they were going to remove him as regional leader of the party and that this Wednesday’s decision was “a big surprise.” “Things can always be done well, even in the starts, even in the most difficult moments, and I think it is a reflection that we have to do, obviously, in the game,” Antelo explained on Onda Cero, where he also insisted that “from the first day to date I have always supported Santiago Abascal and the entire team.”
In 2023, after the regional elections, in which the PP was the most voted list but did not achieve an absolute majority, Vox agreed with Fernando López Miras, who appointed Antelo vice president of his government. He left in July 2024, following the guidelines of Santiago Abascal, who promoted the departure of Vox from all the autonomous governments in which it had agreed with the PP, using as an argument the disagreements with those of Alberto Núñez Feijóo on immigration matters. However, Antelo agreed again with López Miras in September 2025 to approve the budgets of the autonomous community. Among the conditions that were agreed upon, the reform of the law for the protection of the Mar Menor, the withdrawal of subsidies to employers and unions, and the closure of a center for minors.
This latest movement within Vox comes after the expulsion from the party of Javier Ortega Smith, its spokesperson in the Madrid City Council, as well as the councilors who supported him in his confrontation with the party leader, Santiago Abascal. Shortly after the news of the en bloc resignation became known, Ortega Smith came out to support Antelo, whom he referred to as “a great person and great patriot who has managed to lift the Vox project in the Region of Murcia.” “Time puts everyone in their place,” the former member of the ultra party has published in X.
