Javier Ortega Smith, until now Vox’s spokesperson on Madrid’s City Council, will become a non-attached councillor after a court rejected his request for interim protection against expulsion from the party. Madrid plenary president Borja Fanjul confirmed the change. Ortega Smith keeps his elected council seat and the right to participate and vote in council sessions, but loses his formal ties to Vox and its municipal group. He also retains his national parliamentary mandate.
The dispute began on 12 February 2026, when Vox’s national leadership removed Ortega Smith as Madrid City Council spokesperson and appointed Arantxa Cabello López in his place. Ortega Smith rejected the change, and the party provisionally suspended him on 18 February. Vox’s Comité de Garantías confirmed his definitive expulsion on 5 March. His court challenge concerned the party’s disciplinary decision, not his elected mandate. The court later denied his request for precautionary measures, allowing the council to recognize him as a non-attached councillor.
Ortega Smith’s departure came amid a wider rupture with Vox’s national leadership, headed by Santiago Abascal. The five-member municipal group split: Ortega Smith and fellow councillors Ignacio Ansaldo and Carla Toscano were expelled, while Cabello and Fernando Martínez Vidal remained aligned with the leadership. Vox’s council group was left with Cabello and Martínez Vidal, with Cabello as its spokesperson.
The competing claims over who could speak for Vox came into view at the 24 February plenary. The council continued to treat Ortega Smith as the group’s spokesperson, even as Cabello presented herself as its legitimate representative. The five councillors voted separately. The dispute also surfaced during a debate on maintaining a shelter for vulnerable LGTBIQ+ people in central Madrid. All parties, including Cabello and Martínez Vidal, backed the initiative after a PP amendment, while Ortega Smith, still acting as spokesperson at the time, was the only one to vote against it. Ortega Smith accused his former colleagues of betraying party principles. Martínez Vidal defended support for at-risk young people regardless of sexual orientation.
Ortega Smith’s non-attached status became clear in later council business. A record of the 20 October 2026 plenary lists him separately from the Vox group and records his question about projected revenue from fines linked to Madrid’s low-emission zone. It also records his independent votes. He kept his council seat and national mandate, even as his political affiliation and access to Vox’s party structures changed.
Vox’s performance in the 2023 municipal elections had strengthened its presence in Madrid, securing five council seats with 148,658 votes, up from four seats and 124,252 votes in 2019. The expulsions have since fractured the group, leaving it with two councillors. The conflict also reached beyond the city council: EFE reported that Ortega Smith was left off Vox’s Madrid slate for the 29 November 2026 general election as the party renewed its lists. The dispute within Vox’s Madrid delegation echoes wider political tensions in other Spanish parties, as shown when PSOE's internal disputes surfaced during the launch of their primary race for 2027.
Non-attached councillors in Madrid can attend and speak at plenary sessions but lose access to party resources, including funding and staff. The status separates Ortega Smith institutionally from Vox while leaving him with his council mandate and the right to take part in proceedings.
