Until very recently the small southern Spanish town of El Ejido was known - if it was known at all - for its veg production, growing a hefty share of Europe’s peppers, aubergines and courgettes under miles and miles of shimmering polythene.

But now, as one newspaper dubbed it last week ahead of Spain’s general election on Sunday, El Ejido is known as Spain’s ‘bastion of hate’, where nearly 30 per cent of voters have supported Vox, the surging new populist party of the Spanish Right.

The slurs come as no surprise to Juan José Bonilla, Vox’s lead organiser in El Ejido, who only joined the fledgling party last November after years of loyally voting for the mainstream conservative Popular Party (PP).

As we discuss the fragmentation of the Spanish Right in Vox’s sparsely appointed campaign office, Mr Bonilla grows suddenly animated, seizing a small Spanish flag from his blotter and waving it fiercely across the desk.

“See this? This flag? It is like we are ashamed of it, you cannot hang it outside or it’s looked upon as a disgrace,” he says. “When I wave it they call me a ‘racist’ and ‘fascist’, but at Vox rallies we fly the flag. It is a question of pride.”