Santiago Abascal Kicks Off Campaign in Estepona Santiago Abascal opened the general election campaign at a rally of some 1,500 people in Estepona, with immigration, housing and a warning of a violent contest ahead. Abascal Opens VOX Campaign on the Coast Spain's general election campaign has landed on the Costa del Sol, and it arrived loudly. Santiago Abascal, leader of VOX, chose Estepona for his opening rally on Sunday evening, addressing a crowd his party put at around 1,500 people at the Sol Marbella Estepona Atalaya Park hotel from six o'clock onwards. The venue sits on the stretch of coastline between Estepona and Marbella that has become a regular stop for political set-pieces, close enough to the AP-7 to pull in supporters from across the western Costa del Sol. It was the first major rally of the campaign, and the choice of town said as much as the speech did. VOX has long polled strongest along this part of the coast, where frustration over immigration, housing pressure and unregulated holiday lets runs deepest among both Spanish residents and the wider community. Estepona, a town that has grown fast in the last decade on the back of tourism and new-build development, delivered a willing crowd. It was Abascal's first chance to set the tone for the weeks ahead, and he took it without hesitation. A Combative Start He did not ease his audience in gently. Abascal accused the Spanish government of being willing to lie and kill, urged his supporters not to vote by post, and warned that the campaign itself would turn violent. It was a dark opening note for a democratic contest, and one his rivals were quick to condemn across Monday's front pages, with several accusing him of inflaming tensions before the race had properly begun. The substance of the speech will be familiar to anyone who followed the last electoral cycle. Immigration led the charge, followed by housing and a promise of sweeping deregulation across the economy. Housing is the theme with real teeth on this coast, where residents watch apartment blocks change hands to investors and wonder who the market is actually being built for anymore. A message that blends grievance with nostalgia for an older, simpler Spain travels far in towns like Estepona, where rapid construction and rising prices have reshaped daily life for long-term residents far faster than wages have moved. From Estepona to Ceuta From Estepona, the VOX leader moved on to Ceuta, spending the October 12 national holiday in the enclave to keep the migration crisis at the centre of his opening week. The choreography is deliberate: a coastal rally in Andalucía followed immediately by a visit to Spain's most contested border point sends a clear signal about where the party wants this campaign fought. The contest is being framed as a choice about borders, sovereignty and who Spain belongs to, and the Costa del Sol is being cast as something close to ground zero for that argument. What It Means for Residents and Homeowners For the international residents who make up so much of this region's population and economy, the practical reading is simpler than the rhetoric suggests. The general election falls in November, and the parties are already fighting hard for the towns where many of them live, pay taxes and raise children. Housing policy, tourism regulation and local investment decisions all sit on the ballot, whoever ends up forming the next government. Elections on the Costa del Sol have a habit of arriving with big promises for the coast and leaving behind business as usual once the votes are counted. Even so, the promises made now still shape what town halls in Estepona, Marbella and Fuengirola feel politically able to approve in the meantime, from short-term rental licence reform to planning permissions for new residential developments. Buyers and agents watching the market, including those working with firms such as Marbella New Homes, will be paying close attention to how housing policy develops over the coming weeks, given how directly it touches new-build supply and investor confidence along this part of the coast. More Rallies to Come The next few weeks will bring further visits from every corner of the political spectrum. Every major party is expected to pass through Málaga province before polling day, and the rallies are likely to grow bigger, louder and harder to avoid as November approaches. Estepona got the opening night of that season: a Sunday crowd, a hotel ballroom, and a warning that the campaign ahead will be rough. On the evidence of day one, it already is.