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Caparrós challenges Vox's call to put Spanish ALS patients first

A parliamentary event on care legislation becomes a dispute over whether nationality should determine priority for public resources.

Channel: EL PAÍS ·

SpainStory of November 14, 2026Trari Newsroom

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“No sabía que venían xenófobos": El momento de tensión entre Martín Caparrós y una portavoz de Vox:

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0:00María Ruiz argues that public resources for ALS patients should give strict priority to Spanish citizens.
0:48Ruiz rejects accusations of xenophobia, distinguishing preference for Spanish citizens from hostility toward foreigners.
1:27Martín Caparrós condemns the position as xenophobic, racist and authoritarian.
2:05Caparrós questions why nationality should put Spanish patients ahead of long-term foreign residents with ALS.
2:30He criticizes politicians for leaving after their interventions, then challenges Ruiz's knowledge of her party's program.

Should a Spanish citizen receive priority over a long-term foreign resident with the same disease? Argentine writer Martín Caparrós puts that question to a parliamentary gathering after Vox lawmaker María Ruiz calls for national preference in care for people with ALS.

The exchange took place on Friday at Spain's Congress of Deputies in Madrid, according to Spain's EL PAÍS. The event marked two years of legislation on ALS, known in Spanish as ELA, and followed the presentation of a report by the patient association ConELA. ALS is a progressive disease affecting the nerve cells that control voluntary movement.

Ruiz, a member of the far-right party's national executive, argues that public resources for ALS patients should follow a principle of strict national priority. Interruptions can be heard from elsewhere in the room. She rejects the accusation of xenophobia, saying that preferring Spanish citizens does not mean hating foreigners.

The camera then turns to Caparrós, seated in a wheelchair. The writer and journalist, who is also a columnist for the newspaper, has ALS, the report says. He objects from the audience before later speaking at the table.

Caparrós describes the position as xenophobic, racist and authoritarian. His substantive objection concerns foreign residents who have lived in Spain for many years: he questions why Spanish nationality should give one patient precedence over another affected by the disease.

His criticism also turns to whether the politicians are listening. During his later intervention, he remarks that they appear to have left after speaking, and specifically reproaches Ruiz's absence. He concludes by arguing that her remarks suggest she does not know her own party's published program. The excerpt ends with his criticism, without a further response from Ruiz.

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