The leader of the far-right Vox, Santiago Abascal, accused the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, this Thursday of "treason" for Spain's vote against the European Union (EU) Return Regulation, a norm that has definitively gone ahead with the majority support of the Member States.
The so-called Return Regulation is a new norm of the European Union that establishes common rules for returning people from non-EU countries who do not have a legal right to remain in community territory. The norm aims to make return procedures faster and more coordinated among Member States. Among other measures, it establishes obligations for people who receive a return order and facilitates European countries' recognition of return decisions adopted by other States.
The Twenty-Seven have given the green light to a reform that toughens the EU's return policy and consolidates the outsourcing of deportation centers in third countries, where migrants without the right to asylum can be transferred while their expulsion from community territory is completed.
Spain's rejection at the Luxembourg meeting
The decision was adopted this Thursday at the meeting of European Union Interior Ministers held in Luxembourg. Spain voted against the new Return Regulation, while Belgium abstained and the rest of the Member States supported the norm. The EU Council thus gave its definitive approval to a system that seeks to accelerate and coordinate the returns of people from third countries who do not have the right to remain in community territory.
According to European Commission data, in 2025 only about 28% of returns were actually carried out. This means that, of all the people ordered by European authorities to leave the Union, more than seven out of ten were not ultimately returned.
The new Return Regulation aims to reduce this difference and make expulsion decisions easier to apply and coordinate among the different European countries. To do this, it introduces new common tools and procedures, including a European Return Order and the possibility of using return centers in certain third countries.
Abascal's message on the social network X
Through his account on the social network X, Santiago Abascal has launched a message addressing problems such as housing prices, salaries, the situation of neighborhoods, and healthcare waiting lists. against the head of the Executive and has linked the Government's decision with the impact that, as he indicated, it would have on life in Spain: "This type wants our death as a people: the end of tranquility for women, impossible apartment prices, unrecognizable neighborhoods, sunken salaries, endless queues, people dying waiting for an operation", he assured.
Este tipo quiere nuestra muerte como pueblo. El fin de la tranquilidad para las mujeres. Precios imposibles de los pisos. Barrios irreconocibles. Sueldos hundidos. Colas interminables. Personas que mueren esperando una operación.
— Santiago Abascal 🇪🇸 (@Santi_ABASCAL) October 1, 2026
Si no... no se entiende semejante traición. https://t.co/aHcTEpHkQx
However, the Luxembourg vote was not about any of those issues. EU interior ministers were debating new rules to make the return of people who do not have the right to remain in EU territory more effective. The main Spanish disagreement focuses on certain mechanisms of the reform, especially on return centers in third countries and on the legal guarantees they must offer. The Regulation, furthermore, does not eliminate returns or prevent expulsions; on the contrary, it aims to improve their application through common procedures and new European tools.
In the end, while the EU debates how to make returns effective and what guarantees must be respected, Vox chooses to take the discussion to the realm of political confrontation. Rather than explaining what was voted on, Abascal's message uses the controversy to launch a new offensive against Sánchez. The leader of the far-right Vox concluded his message with a direct accusation: "Otherwise, such a betrayal is not understood."
