Millions of people across Europe will be heading to the polls this week to elect members of the European parliament, represented by dozens of parties. Spain's far-right VOX party shot to prominence after regional elections last December. And now, it's expected to win its first seats in the European parliament. CGTN's Filio Kontrafouri has more from Madrid.

It's a trend that's been emerging across Europe. Far-right parties shaking up domestic politics with their nationalist and anti-immigrant views. And now vowing to challenge the status quo in Europe through the European elections.

In the case of Spain, it's the VOX party.

VOX is a newcomer to the political scene. Founded in 2013, it gained popularity after Catalonia's failed independence referendum in 2017. In April's general election, it went from zero to 24 seats in the national parliament. VOX rejects the far-right label and wants to be called a patriotic party that Jorge Buxade says puts the interests of the Spaniards first.

JORGE BUXADE VOX EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEAD CANDIDATE "Brussels has too much power and took it without explaining it to the people. The Spanish don't know how much power Brussels has. Countries must have more freedom. For example, Brussels wants the same taxes all across Europe. We think Spain should have the right to lower them to improve its economy."

Immigration has come to the forefront of VOX's campaign ahead of the EU elections. Spain is Europe's second largest port of entry for migrants and asylum seekers after Greece, mostly Muslims from countries like Morocco.

JORGE BUXADE VOX EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEAD CANDIDATE "Our policy is clear-- zero tolerance with illegal immigration. Immigrants must get in properly and in line with employment demands, and they should be able to adapt to Europe, adapt to our way of life."

CRISTINA MANZANO ESGLOBAL DIRECTOR "The reason why they have been so strong in Spain is basically the Catalan issue. And that's not an issue for a European election. They can use the European parliament to fight against Catalan nationalism but it's not a real topic for a European election. So they need to create that atmosphere, they need to occupy that space that's being taken by other far-right parties in other countries, which was empty in Spain because that was covered by the conservative party."

Thousands have been attending VOX's rallies across Spain from all walks of life and ages.

FILIO KONTRAFOURI MADRID "According to polls, VOX is expected to win about eight percent of the vote, which would give them five seats in the massive, 751-seat European assembly. And one of the questions has been how much and what kind of influence can VOX have on a European level."

Analysts expect far-right parties to gain about 20 percent of the vote in the European elections. And as EU politics have been traditionally dominated by center-right and center-left parties, the rise of parties like VOX has not gone unnoticed in Brussels. Filio Kontrafouri, CGTN, Madrid.