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The populist tide that has brought the far-Right into mainstream politics across Europe has so far largely failed to materialise in Spain.

But that could be about to change on Sunday as the anti-immigration and Eurosceptic Vox party hopes to make its first gains as it takes advantage of the rising number of asylum seekers crossing from North Africa.

If Vox picks up the two seats predicted in Andalucia's regional elections, it would mark the first parliamentary representation on any level in Spain since democracy replaced General Franco.

Among the ultra-conservative Catholic party's radical policies are a wall to keep immigrants out of the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla that border Morocco, the suspension of Catalonia’s regional government and an end to abortions at public hospitals.

Francisco Serrano, Vox’s leading candidate in Andalucia, and a judge by profession, is “convinced” that Vox will make the breakthrough and enter Andalucia’s parliament after polling consistently at around five per cent during the campaign, a major leap forward compared to a result of just 0.2 per cent in Spain’s 2016 general election.

“We are not an extreme right party; we are extremely necessary,” he told The Telegraph.

“We are the only party defending Spain in a clear way, without any complexes. There is no support for the far-Right in Spain; if we’re connecting with people, we cannot be extremists.”

The rise of Vox adds even more uncertainty to Spain’s fragmented political scene. The young socialist government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is under pressure to call a snap election before spring if it can't find backers for the budget.

Nervous observers in Mr Sanchez's government and analysts elsewhere are viewing Andalucia's vote as a dry run for a national election - and a first test for the current government since it topples the corruption-mired centre-Right Popular Party earlier this year in a surprise no confidence poll.

Since then Spain has seen a surge in illegal migration, partly thanks to Italy's hardline deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini closing ports to charity rescue ships.

The migrant route from Libya to Italy has also been largely shut off by a controversial deal between the EU and the Libyan coastguard.

Andalucia has born the brunt of the more than 45,000 migrants who have arrived illegally in Spain by sea this year – three times more than during the whole of 2017 – immigration became a hot-button issue in the campaign.

Vox wants to expel migrants who have entered the country illegally. Mr Serrano said Spain could not afford to take in foreigners unless they had work contracts before arriving.

“We don’t discriminate against any races, but above all we are proud to say that we love our own people. And for those who don’t respect our traditions, we are going to keep the exit doors open.”

The leader of Spain’s mainstream conservative Popular Party (PP), Pablo Casado, has ramped up his anti-immigration rhetoric. “If they are coming here to commit crimes, they chose the wrong country,” Casado said in Andalucia last week, adding. “We don’t do ablation of the clitoris here, or slaughter a ram in the home.”

Polls suggest the PP is set to drop from the 27 per cent it won in Andalucia in 2015 to 21 per cent, caught in a pincer between Vox to the right and the liberal Ciudadanos towards the centre, the latter predicted to double its share to 18 per cent.

On the Left, the Socialists are seemingly certain of winning in a region that the party has governed since the first regional elections were held in 1982, but sitting Andalucian President Susana Díaz will need to strike a deal with Left-wing Podemos if she is to have any chance of continuing to govern.