"Reconquist begins": Europe Viva 2025. Patriots for Europe want the continent back

On the second weekend of September 2025, 1 of the most clear political events of this year was held in Madrid's Palacio de Vistalegre: Europe Viva 2025. Organized by the Spanish VOX organization and Group Patriots for Europe The conference brought together 8,500 participants, right-wing leaders from Europe and the USA, anti-immigration activists and strong-course sympathizers towards the European Union. At the centre of the event was the slogan: “Comienza la reconquista” – The reconquista begins.

It is not only a slogan – it is simply a political manifesto, profoundly embedded in historical symbolism. The message was directed against what VOX calls "mass immigration", "the dictatorship of Brussels" and "ideological slavery by the left".

The password ‘reconquist’ does not appear in the VOX transmission for the first time. As early as 2019, Santiago Abascal started an election run in Covadonga – a place of symbolic beginning of medieval reconquist – speaking about the request for a "spirit of conflict for Christian Spain". In February, Abascal stressed this communicative even more strongly, calling the reconquist a common goal of European patriots, and Spain referring to it as “the foreground of Europe before Islam”. During Europe, Viva 2025 VOX explicitly announced that this fight is just beginning – and has a pan-European dimension.

The conference had an global dimension. Although there were no characters specified as Viktor Orbán or Marine Le Pen, representatives of groups from Belgium (Vlaams Belang), Portugal (Chega!), Austria (FPÖ), Greece, Peru and the USA appeared. In distant form, the president of Argentina Javier Milei and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni besides joined.

The speeches were coherent:

Mass immigration threatens the sovereignty, safety and cultural identity of Europe – repeated from the stage.

Fabrice Leggeri, erstwhile Head of Frontex, powerfully criticized the European Commission for being "naked and neglected" on border issues, indicating 2015 as a turning point. Kristen Ziccarelli of the America First Policy Institute spoke about the end of “magic reasoning about integration” and called for the rejection of universalist narratives. Udo Landbauer of FPÖ demanded a break with the EU Migration Pact and the establishment of exile centres outside Europe.

Immigration as the core of cultural disputes

The subject of immigration dominated the conference. It was said not as a social challenge, but as a civilizational threat. Afrodi Latinopoulous of the Greek Voice of Reason warned against the "ideological mask of Islamism", and Rafael López Aliaga, Mayor of Lima, spoke of the "plan to replace European nations" by the left-wing elite. Ignacio Garriga, Secretary General of VOX, accused the Spanish political elite (both socialists and the centre-right People's Party) of financing immigrants at the expense of citizens. He announced a run to uncover "the real cost of illegal immigration" and called for a "political offensive to recover everything lost".

Charlie Kirk as a symbol of the fight

One of the most symbolic moments of the event was a tribute to Charlie Kirk, a known American conservative activist who was shot dead a fewer days ago. The participants watched a movie commemorating his life, and Santiago Abasca appeared in a T-shirt identical to the 1 Kirk wore on the day of his death—a individual motion to item the community of values and sacrifice. The audience responded with a standing ovation, and emotions reached out. VOX skillfully utilized this minute to build a community of experience and sense of mission among participants.

Language Without Compromise

The speeches were brutally direct. Abascal referred to the European Union as a "caliphate from Brussels", and the left as "murdering, lying, useless, thieving, lazy and criminal". In return, it offers a cultural war: between "real patriots" and "traitors of the nation", between "tradition" and "ideology", between "Europe of Value" and "Europe of decadence".

Although the conference's motto was "Por una Europa nueva y decente" – "For a fresh and decent Europe", the content of the speeches suggested alternatively nostalgia for a homogenous Europe, based on a hard national identity and alien exclusion. It's not an integration project, it's a reconstruction project. Not building a fresh community, but recovering this “lost”. VOX and its allies do not hide that their imagination of Europe is simply a continent of strong borders, national states, unambiguous values and excluding the definition of identity. In specified a way, there is no place for diversity – cultural or political.

Europe Viva 2025 has shown that VOX has consistently pursued a strategy with a advanced emotional and symbolic load. utilizing the language of the reconquist, the organization not only mobilizes its electorate, but besides moves the public debate firmly to the right. The slogan “The reconquist begins” is not a metaphor – it is simply a program. Its aim is to set a fresh axis of dispute in Europe: patriotism versus globalisation, identity versus multiculturalism, borders versus openness. This is not a task for everyone. But that is why it works – clearly defines the enemy, the mark and the way. In the era of political chaos, specified clarity becomes an asset. Even if it leads to deep divisions.