Francesc-Marc Álvaro: "The Alliance is destroying more than 150 years of Catalanism"

BarcelonaJust weeks before the fiftieth anniversary of Franco's death, the rise of the far right is worrying the world as it hasn't for almost a century. In this context, and after two years living in Madrid as a member of parliament for the ERC party, journalist and essayist Francesc-Marc Álvaro publishes the book Francoism in the time of TrumpIn it, he paints a portrait of the reactionary rise in Spain, centered on Vox, or as he says in the book, "the disturbing evidence" that fascism did not die with the end of the dictatorship.

He explains that Vox does not define itself as Francoist because it doesn't need to.

— Exactly, it doesn't need to be because in Spain there is a sociological Francoism, the ashes of the dictatorship, which Vox simply rekindles and reignites. And because this sociological Francoism—which we find particularly in the Madrid of power—has never disappeared, even though for some periods it was camouflaged or half-hidden.

Why is there such a strong social presence of Francoism?

— On the one hand, because it lasted forty years, and on the other, also because it employed some of the tactics dictatorships use to generate support, such as the national-Catholic base or certain rhetoric of social protection, in many ways. Nor can we forget that the US, which led the liberation of Europe from the Nazis, later, due to the Cold War, ended up propping up Franco. This support inevitably created a legitimacy for the regime, and led some to perceive the dictatorship as less powerful than those of Hitler and Mussolini.

And once in a democracy, that legitimacy is not reversed.

— It wasn't until Zapatero's time that historical memory policies began. During Felipe González's long years in power, nothing was done, and this issue was not part of the socialist governments' commitment to change.

Does the law that Pedro Sánchez is passing solve this?

— It's somewhat better than Zapatero's, which was far from ambitious, but it also has many shortcomings. The main problem is that it's coming late and without having undertaken any educational campaign about the transition from Francoism in the 1980s, as was done in Germany with the Nazi regime. The biggest failing of Spanish democracy is its failure to carry out this educational campaign thoroughly and radically.

Does the lack of historical memory policies explain why Vox went from receiving the support of 15% of those under 34 in 2019 to 30% in 2025?

— Not only that. There's also a trend, a global wave, narcissism, resentment, unease, helplessness... The far right takes advantage of all that volatile situation.

And he does so by presenting himself as "countercultural," he says in the book.

— This is both new and old. Historically, fascist movements have always presented themselves as countercultural alternatives to the establishment. Now they're doing the same, with the added element that Vox and Abascal are connected to the global far right, which gives them an even more alternative or modern appearance. It's this disguise that a segment of the population—young and old alike—believes and swallows as if it were against the system.

Furthermore, the far right uses an idea of authenticity and purity that connects with the prevailing mantra of "be yourself," he explains.

— The success of this populism lies in its presentation as a pure and natural offering, and the paradigm of this is Donald Trump, who has transformed his clumsiness and arrogance into a positive attribute. He is seen as so different from traditional politicians that the translation is: "This guy is serious, this guy is like me." It's what Berlusconi did in Italy, which Trump has taken to a new level and amplified.

In the case of Aliança Catalana, they want to bring this idea to Catalan nationalism. How can they influence it?

— Silvia Orriols' party does the same thing as all international far-right movements: present a world based on an unreal purity and an idealized past to which we must return, even though it never existed. From a historical perspective, it dismantles over 150 years of Catalan identity, because Catalan identity has always seen the nation as a society under construction, which, to be viable, needs to incorporate outsiders. And what they do is precisely exclude, something that goes against that very idea, because it means having an increasingly smaller, weaker nation, incapable of sustaining itself. I wouldn't be surprised if die-hard Spanish nationalists are delighted with Alianza.