Critics say Spain's fascist threat comes not from small groups like
those set to march in Barcelona Saturday, but from the radical fringe
that is part of Spain's governing Popular Party.
by
 |
| Andrés Cala |
Extreme, neo-fascist groups in Spain
are preparing for a show of force during this weekend’s nationalist
holiday, and Spanish authorities are keeping a close eye on the
situation.
But experts worry that the real fascist concern in Spain is not from
small extremist groups, but rather from growing public displays of
fascist sympathies by a small part of the conservative government's
constituency – and even among elected officials.
“Spain has not been ‘de-Francoized,’ as Germany has been de-Hitlerized,”
explains Félix Ortega, a sociology professor and expert in public
opinion in the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. “There are still Francosymbols even in my university!”
An alliance of radical right groups – including violent neo-Nazi ones – have mobilized to travel from around the country to Barcelona
to protest Catalonian nationalism on the October 12 "Día de la
Hispanidad," or "Hispanic Day," holiday. Authorities said Thursday they
plan to prevent violent groups from entering Catalonia.
The holiday march is held annually, and is normally small and peaceful.
But the nationalist undertones of Hispanic Day – which originally
commemorated Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the American continent
until was renamed in 1958 by the fascist regime of General Francisco
Franco – make it a flashpoint.
Five groups – including violent neo-Nazi cells and a political party
that the Supreme Court is considering banning – in July formed a common
platform called "Spain on the March." Its leaders have warned they will
resort to violent acts if required to preserve Spain’s territorial
unity, which they feel threatened especially by regional independence
aspirations.
National and regional officials and security services have since
increased security ahead of Saturday's march. Barcelona authorities this
week denied access to part of the route the marchers had requested in
order to reduce the risk of violence and clashes with pro-independence
marches.
And in Catalonia’s parliament on Friday, the chamber passed a motion to
characterize fascism, Franco, and Nazis as ideologies “inciting violence
and hate” – which would have given authorities more power to prosecute
them. Although members of the Popular Party, which governs Spain but is a
minority in the Catalonian parliament, walked out on the motion, it
ultimately passed with the support of other parties.
The weekend march is not an isolated incident. As Catalonian plans to
hold a referendum on independence move forward, the extreme right has
re-energized, even if it remains small compared to the resurgent
movements in Greece, France, and elsewhere.
Last month, a dozen radicals forced their way into a library where
Catalonians were commemorating their own national day, injuring several
people and tearing down Catalonian symbols. Police arrested them in the
aftermath.
The real concern
Police estimate there are about 10,000 members involved in violent
extreme right groups. They lost political representation in parliament
in 1982, seven years after Franco died. But they didn’t disappear. They
melded into the now governing PP.
The concern is not so much over the very small group of violent groups,
which authorities constantly monitor. These are mostly contained,
experts agree. The real problem is in from those within the government's
ruling party that sympathize ideologically – even if they condemn the
use of violence.
“I’m more concerned about complacency and permissive attitudes in the PP
than I am about these reactionary groups,” Dr. Ortega says. “The PP
has many faces. Is it an extreme right party? No. But the extreme right
is part of the PP. And they now they have to tender complex electoral
messages to different constituencies, including the extreme right.”
Catalonian secessionist plans have united the traditionally fragmented
nationalist forces and radical fascist groups. And the extreme right is
part of the constituency of the conservative PP, with some experts
estimating as much as 10 percent of the party sympathizes with radical
ideology, although it’s impossible to contrast.
The political heirs of Franco merged with the PP, which is ideologically
a center-right party. And amid the eurocrisis, they could gain more
political clout that could be significantly more dangerous than the
violent groups, experts warn.
The government has been criticized by the opposition, regional
governments, and human rights groups for condoning fascist public
support among its own followers – which even if small in number, were
unheard of until recently – even if violent groups are suppressed.
Such criticism arose again on Thursday, when PP legislators voted down a
motion like that in the Catalonian parliament to criminalize public
support for fascism, Franco, and the Nazis. The PP said the move was
unnecessary, because such a ban is already implicit in the law.
“They publicly condemn it, but they clearly tolerate it,” Ortega says.
Franco nostalgia
The crisis has brought an unprecedented public display of Franco
nostalgia, with some public officials and members of the PP openly
making the Nazi salute, displaying the former regime’s flag and other
memorabilia, and posting pro-Franco messages on social media sites.
Municipal, regional, and even country legislators have reminisced about
Franco’s era, mostly subtly, though some have openly said those killed
by Franco’s forces deserved it.
On Thursday, the PP mayor of a Madrid
suburb tweeted that he would send some "skinheads" to target the
Socialist Party as part of a broader public debate. He later said he was
just joking.
The mayor of a small town in Galicia showcased the picture of the
dictator in his office and played the fascist anthem – that is, until a
small bomb partially damaged the municipal building early Monday.
Although no one has claimed responsibility, anarchist groups are
suspected.
And earlier this month, a small town governed by the PP near Madrid
allowed a fascist group to put up a stand in a public school exhibiting
Franco-era and Nazi memorabilia. Officials later apologized and said
that they weren’t aware of the stand.
The government and the PP leadership so far have limited their reaction
to condemning violence and pro-fascist displays within its ranks. No
officials have been reprimanded. “The problems are not majors or
councilmen. It’s that high-ranking legislators and ministers condone
this,” says Ortega.
Additionally, the PP is trying to revise history to paint a rosy picture
of the Franco dictatorship, while blaming the deposed and
democratically elected left-wing government for the brutal Spanish Civil
War that ended in 1938.
The PP-controlled parliament last month voted down proposals from
opposition parties that would have penalized pro-Franco propaganda and
banned pro-Franco political parties.
“It’s true that this is not Greece or France, where the extreme right
has become a political power,” Ortega says. “But you never know,
especially if it seems that the PP tolerates it.”
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