Introduction & Updates in National Landscape
The conflict in the Spanish judicial system has marked the agenda of the Spanish extreme right in December, a month in which a symbolic anniversary is celebrated, the Day of the Spanish Constitution, contradictory for the extreme right parties with parliamentary representation, that is, Vox.
At the state level, December 6 has been a key date. On the one hand, on this day, demonstrations have once again been held by the most reactionary sectors of the police, explicitly supported by extreme right-wing groups. These protests come from previous months when several police officers were reprimanded for spreading racist speech at events organized by Vox. In December, the demonstration was called by the Police for Freedom platform, born in 2020 as a result of the measures taken by the Government against the Covid pandemic of a denialist nature and which disseminated messages encouraging people not to get vaccinated against covid. The policeman Ricardo Ferris —sanctioned for spreading racist hoaxes— and several denialist groups participated in it and had the explicit support of the far-right party España 2000. https://twitter.com/E2000_Valencia/status/1597227245738680321
The relationship between the extreme right and the police forces was also made clear on December 11, this time by Vox, whose president, Santiago Abascal, traveled to Pamplona, along with officials from the Popular Party and Ciudadanos, for the rally called to reject the Agreement of the Navarrese Government by which the powers over traffic in the autonomous community are removed from the Civil Guard. Not many other people attended the event, which several hundred demonstrators attended. The presence of the Civil Guard in Navarra has been the subject of controversy for years due to the relationship of this police force with the war against ETA and the torture and murder of people of Basque nationalist ideology. https://twitter.com/Santi_ABASCAL/status/1601927893885620225
On the same day 6, the Day of the Spanish Constitution was celebrated, born after the Franco dictatorship. It is a contradictory date for far-right parties. From the Popular Party, they have criticized the absence of Vox charges in the official acts organized on this day. From Abascal’s party, they argue their absence stating that “in the paripé of PSOE and Podemos they will not find us” and pointing out that the only act they will attend will be the raising of the Spanish flag organized by the Defense Staff, a superior institution of the Army Spanish. https://twitter.com/voxes/status/1600144403321987077 https://twitter.com/VOXCongreso/status/1600051040610492416
We continue with December 6, when the World Cup soccer match between Spain and Morocco was also held. The match, which the Moroccan team won, was followed by the spread of dozens of hoaxes about looting, arson, and even murders committed by Moroccan supporters. The hoaxes were spread by extreme right-wing groups such as National Democracy. https://twitter.com/DNacional/status/1600236014265827329 https://twitter.com/DNacional/status/1600498740309139462 https://www.newtral.es/bulos-partido-espana-marruecos/20221208/
And also, on December 6, the trial began for the altercations that on November 30, 2014, ended with the death of Jimmy, a Galician soccer fan. Jimmy was beaten and thrown into the Manzanares River, allegedly by supporters of the Frente Atlético, a soccer fan associated with the extreme right. However, the investigation into the death was archived in 2016, and in December, the trial began, not about his death, but about the altercations in which, in addition to the followers of the Athletic Front, anti-fascist fans of the Riazor Blues club would have participated, of Deportivo de La Coruña. The trial, in which there were 82 defendants from both the Athletic Front and the Riazor Blues, took place over 17 days. Two days before it began, two supporters of the Frente Atlético were arrested for threatening a protected witness. https://efe.com/espana/juicio-caso-jimmy/
But the main battle car of the extreme right in December has been the renewal of the magistrates that make up the high courts in Spain. Specifically, the Constitutional Court, in which several of its magistrates had spent months with their mandate expired, was blocked by the conservative bloc in the General Council of the Judiciary, made up of magistrates previously elected by the Popular Party. The PSOE government has approved an amendment to the law that defines the election of judges, which has been branded as a “coup d’état by the right and the “extreme right.” From Vox they have filed an appeal for protection before the Constitutional Court itself and a complaint against the President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, whom they accuse of “conspiring for rebellion.” https://twitter.com/VOXEuropa/status/1601219930799890433 https://twitter.com/voxes/status/1601187372376674305 https://twitter.com/voxes/status/1602286808829599744 https://twitter.com/vox_es/status/1605182503995682816
Within Abascal’s party, the changes have also continued. After the departure of Macarena Olana, the far-right party has now named new candidates for the regional elections in País Valencià and Aragón. In PaísValecià, Carlos Flores, a professor of constitutional law who was sentenced for harassing his wife in 2002 and who in 1982 appeared on the lists for the general elections as number 8b of the Fuerza Nueva party, has been appointed candidate. In Aragon, their candidate is less well known: Alejandro Nolasco is a historian, and one of his favorite subjects, about which he has written a book, is the Blue Division, the volunteer division sent by Franco to Hitler in World War II. He is also a contributor to Intereconomía, a television channel linked to the extreme right. https://www.alejandronolasco.com/libros https://elpais.com/espana/comunidad-valenciana/2022-12-29/carlos-flores-candidato-valenciano-de-vox-una-condena-por-violencia-machista-hace-20-anos-y-exaspirante-de-fuerza-nueva.html
Transnational Activities & Group Interactions
Regarding relations with other European far-right groups, December has been a quiet month, with many parties enough to take planes. Despite this, the Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs for National Democracy, Gonzalo Martín, has traveled to Poland, where he has been received by representatives of the MW (Młodzież Wszechpolska), an extreme right-wing ultra-Nacjonalist and ultra-Catholic organization.
For its part, Devenir Europeo, the heir to Cedade, has received a visit from representatives of the youth branch of the German party Der Dritte Weg.