Overview
- On Friday, July 17, 2026 Javier Ortega Smith filed a written request with the Mesa del Congreso to leave the Grupo Parlamentario Vox and be adscribed to the Grupo Parlamentario Mixto.
- Ortega Smith keeps his seat but his switch reduces Vox’s deputies in the lower house to 32 and gives him the formal right to intervene in plenary debates as a Mixed Group member.
- He was expelled from Vox earlier this year after defying orders from the party’s National Executive Committee and has contested that expulsion in court.
- In a public farewell letter Ortega Smith, a founding member and former number two in Vox, directly accused Santiago Abascal of centralizing power, betraying the party’s founding principles and warned that others will follow his example.
- The departure highlights widening internal fractures in Vox and could change parliamentary dynamics and voting margins; observers should watch for more resignations and any legal rulings on Ortega Smith’s party expulsion.