Neo-Nazi groups and Francoist symbolism: young people's growing fascination with neo-fascism

MadridA T-shirt with the fascist slogan "God, country, and family" and legs wrapped in a Spanish flag with the pre-constitutional eagle. This is the clothing worn by one of the protesters this Friday on Ferraz Street in Madrid, where the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) is based, in the protest against Pedro Sánchez. He appeared to be no more than twenty years old. Dozens of small groups of young people, some clearly underage, responded to the far-right's call on social media to demand the resignation of the Spanish prime minister. These young people were the ones who sang Francoist chants with the greatest fervor and repeatedly raised their arms in the fascist salute. This phenomenon is not exclusive to the Ferraz protests, which have been reactivated. for the Santos Cerdán caseSimilar scenes have occurred in recent months on the streets of the Spanish capital during protests. of the neo-Nazi group Núcleo Nacional and of the Spanish Phalanx and the JONS.

How do you explain this growing fascination among some young people with neo-fascism? "If in the 1970s what was transgressive for young people was being anti-Franco, now it's go against democracy and the party system," reflects Carles Viñas, PhD in contemporary history at the University of Barcelona (UB), in a conversation with ARA. Apart from this desire to go against the grain characteristic of adolescence, Viñas adds among the factors of this phenomenon the impact of social networks, in which they win the game influencers far-right, as well as "the lack of education they have received" on certain topics of Spanish history. All of this makes them a target of Francoist apologies and totalitarian ideas. That same night in Ferraz, a young man walked among the protesters trying to sell copies of a book by Fernando Paz, a historian close to Vox who, among others, hails Franco's regime as a "period of prosperity."

The hooded men of the National Nucleus

At the protests, both at the PSOE headquarters and at the Falange protest three weeks ago in downtown Madrid under the slogan "Remigration"—which calls for ethnic cleansing in Spain—young people with neo-Nazi aesthetics are attracting attention. They are seen in groups, wearing black T-shirts—some with the Núcleo Nacional insignia—and balaclavas. This group emerged during the protests against the amnesty a year and a half ago in Ferraz and is doing "serious" work recruiting and "radicalizing" adolescents, according to Joan Caballero, a criminologist specializing in violent urban groups and hate crimes, who explained to this newspaper. Núcleo Nacional participates in and rejuvenates the scenography of groups with a longer history, such as the Falange, which a couple of years ago lacked the capacity to mobilize young people, but identifies with "National Socialism" and has transnational ties with other neo-Nazi groups, Caballero emphasizes, adding that the group is present in Madrid, Valladolid, and Valencia.

How do they attract them? Again, one of the answers is social media, which is one of the main means of contact. Caballero cites the case of singer Alberto Pugilato, linked to Núcleo Nacional and with more than 65,000 followers on X, whom he identifies as one of the "most powerful agents of radicalization in Spain" with the dissemination of a "violent politicized" message. "There is no democratic solution," Pugilato wrote on his account after the news became known. the UCO report that points to the former number 3 of the PSOE, and also shared a photograph of former Civil Guard lieutenant colonel Antonio Tejero during the attempted coup d'état on 23-F.

"You listen to the music, you go to a rally, then you go to the football stadium and you find more or less the same people [...] Until there comes a point where in these radicalization scenarios you acquire a discourse that is already made. They give you a superpack that covers every aspect of your life with extremist ideology," Caballero says. Some of the protests on the street near Núcleo Nacional have been spontaneous or have had to be reformulated at the last minute due to a lack of authorization from the Spanish government delegation in Madrid. Two weekends ago, they wanted to hold a protest outside a youth center in the neighborhood. "You're like in a kind of giant, clandestine community, and that's very addictive for a young person," the criminologist notes.

Multiple fronts

On the T-shirt of another protester from a group with a neo-Nazi aesthetic from a couple of nights ago in Ferraz one could read "Madrid fascist and madridista". A slogan of the hooligans Real Madrid Ultras Sur. This is one of the spaces, linked to violence, where the National Nucleus seeks support. They also create training groups for contact sports, such as wrestling, a practice also used by the Falange.

"They seek out bases of people with a tendency toward aggression," notes the criminologist, who adds that they are often "multi-militant." Various organizations come together in demonstrations under a common objective—to overthrow the Spanish government or expel immigrants from Spain—but historically this ideological space has also been characterized by rivalries and confrontations. "These people scare even me," commented another young protester, with a rather Cayetana, when he saw a group of neo-Nazis arrive at the PSOE headquarters. Another, less masculinized way to reach young people with a different style than Núcleo Nacional's, is through universities with youth organizations like Revuelta, close to Vox, which also emerged linked to the protests in Ferraz against the amnesty and the Spanish government.

Historian Carles Viñas points out that these groups "have always existed," but that "the big change" is that they now have "loudspeakers" they didn't have before. What's more, there are political parties with an institutional presence, like Vox, that "give them the finger" and promote the "normalization of these discourses" because "it already serves them well" to achieve their political goals.