Vox has finally granted EL PAÍS access to its headquarters on Calle Bambú in Madrid to conduct election night news surveillance after the Central Electoral Body (JEC) warned it could face “administrative and, where appropriate, criminal responsibilities” if it failed to do so. Originally, Ultra party officials vetoed the access of journalists from this newspaper and also from Cadena SER, ignoring separate resolutions of the JEC and the Provincial Elections Committee of Madrid, based on two Supreme Court rulings stressing that the media veto violates Article 20 of the Constitution (right to information).
However, following a complaint from EL PAÍS management, JEC Vox sent a resolution early in the night in which, after examining the “repetition of conduct” that had gone against its previous requirements, it asked the party representative to “immediately” allow the newspaper’s journalist access to headquarters to report on the information on election night and warned him of “the administrative and, where appropriate, criminal liability he could incur if he did not comply “strictly” with the agreement. The journalist from EL PAÍS, who had been next to the headquarters since 18:00, was able to enter at 21:45.
Previously, Vox staff had let Cadena Ser’s journalist pass because they thought the JEC resolution affected them. When they verified that the letter was limited to the EL PAÍS representative and that she did not belong to the newspaper but to Grupo Prisa Station, they expelled her again, although there were plenty of vacancies in the press room, as both of them could verify.
Both EL PAÍS and Cadena SER were accredited last Monday, minutes after Vox opened the registration period. By email, the Ultra party told this newspaper on Saturday afternoon and the radio station on Sunday morning that they were at capacity and unable to enter their headquarters. The truth is that the application used by Vox itself prevented filling in the form at full capacity, which was not the case at the time of the accreditation of EL PAÍS and Cadena SER.
More information
The Supreme Court has already warned the Ultra party that the capacity should not be used as a pretext to discriminate against the media on ideological grounds. At an informative breakfast organized by Europa Press last Tuesday, the leader of the party, Santiago Abascal, revealed the real reason for the veto: “The problem is very simple. It is unacceptable for a media company to publish an editorial saying that Vox needs to be banned, which the newspaper EL PAÍS did, and that later they want us to pretend that nothing happened, that they come to our headquarters, we give them breakfast, some pastries, how nice you are … No, if you ban us, they will understand that we are reacting in some way. That will not change.” He acknowledged that the newspaper’s veto was due to an editorial published on November 6, 2019, in which he warned that the arguments used by the Vox boss in the debate between the candidates for that month’s general election, many of whom were xenophobic and intolerant, required “all the alarm bells to be sounded”, an opinion that was protected in any case by freedom of expression.
What affects most is what happens closer. Subscribe so you don’t miss anything.
subscribe to
Unlike in the 2019 election campaign, when Vox already vetoed journalists, in March 2021 there were two rulings by the Supreme Court for Administrative Disputes condemning the discrimination against EL PAÍS and Cadena SER. The Central Electoral Bureau, in a resolution of June 28, warned that “every formation is obliged to comply with the decisions of both the Electoral Bureau and the Supreme Court’s Dispute Chamber regarding non-discrimination of the media during electoral periods.” For its part, on July 15, the Electoral Committee of the Province of Madrid called on Vox “to ensure the full exercise of the right of information towards all media and in particular the complainants EL PAÍS and Cadena SER”.
Receive every afternoon the Diario Electoral newsletter with the analysis of Ricardo de Querol, deputy editor, and Luis Barbero, editor-in-chief.