‘GET TXAPOTE TO VOTE FOR YOU’

‘QUE TE vote Txapote’, roughly translated as Get Txapote to vote for you. This seemingly innocent Spanish phrase, which is nice and catchy thanks to its rhyme, is causing an ongoing headache for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and pain for the victims of terrorism.

But who is Txapote? And who came up with the slogan that has dominated the ongoing electoral campaigns in Spain?

The slogan first appeared on September 3, last year, when Sanchez was making a visit to Sevilla.

While he was received warmly by supporters, the Socialist Party leader was also confronted by a group of protestors, likely Vox supporters, who whistled, jeered and proffered insults.

Among the group was an older, portly gentleman, who was carrying a sign above his head with the now-immortal words: ‘Que te vote Txapote’.

Txapote’s real name is Francisco Javier Garcia Gaztelu, and he is a convicted terrorist from the now-defunct Basque group ETA.

Aged 57, he is currently serving a 152-year prison sentence for his crimes, which include some of the most shocking murders during ETA’s decades-long bloody campaign for an independent Basque Country.

Among these was the killing of Miguel Angel Blanco, a local PP councillor who was kid-

The slogan about ETA that is plaguing the prime minister and victims alike napped by ETA, who demanded their prisoners be brought to jails in the Basque Country, closer to their families, in exchange for Blanco’s release.

The then-PP government of Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar refused to negotiate, and Blanco was shot twice in the head and left to die.

The kidnapping and the murder shocked Spain, and galvanised social rejection of ETA and its bloody campaign.

In fact, more than 500,000 people turned out to a demonstration in Bilbao while Blanco was still alive and being held by ETA, a phenomenon that was repeated in several other parts of Spain. So what does Txapote have to do with Pedro Sanchez?

The reason why the slogan works, and why it has stuck, is to do with the political deals that the prime minister has had to make over the last nearly four years of his government.

After the inconclusive elections of 2019, Sanchez formed a government with junior coalition partner Unidas Podemos (United We Can), but the administration still lacked a working majority in Congress.

As a result, to pass legislation – including the all-important budget – Sanchez has done deals to gain the support of a series of smaller parties, including EH Bildu, which is the former political wing of ETA.

This has caused huge controversy among victims associations, as well as opening up a political flank where the opposition can attack him – and also gave rise to the now-infamous phrase, ‘Que te vote Txapote’.

EH Bildu is a legitimate political party, but its history and its often-timid condemnation of ETA violence means it is anathema for parties such as the PP and Vox.

The appearance of the slogan has prompted hundreds of column inches in Spanish newspapers, and it became a regular phrase used on social media.

It gained further traction on January 25, when a man who was being interviewed by broadcaster TVE about a speed camera issue suddenly started shouting it and other insults against Sanchez.

It has also been seized upon by far-right party Vox, and members of the PP. The regional premier of the Madrid region, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, cited the slogan during a debate in the Madrid assembly as a way of criticising the Socialist Party.