The far right reaches Catalan universities

BarcelonaThe far right is experiencing a period of growth at all levels. This is evident in politics, with formations such as Vox or Aliança Catalana as examples in Catalonia and the State. Surveys indicate that young people are its main market niche and communication strategies are often aimed at attracting people in this age group. Now also in the university, with unions such as Estudiants pel Canvi (EPC), which has gone from one to five representatives on the faculty of the University of Barcelona.

EPC was born in 2009 as a pro-Spanish student union, and wanted to recover in 2021 after years of free fall, but until now it had not managed to raise its head, probably blocked by its main competitor, Se ha Acabado, born in 2018. Recovered by Santi Acosta, the profile of EPC is close to Vox and has ten active students; he himself is a councilor of this party in the Sentmenat City Council. "Our thinking can be linked more to some," he says, admitting the connection with Vox, but adding that they want to go their own way; he also says that the entity is not linked to it and that there is also some member of the PP. However, he declares himself to have a "right-wing tendency", "anti-immigration" and a Spanish "patriot" with the will to fight the "cultural battle" - they have campaigned against the Islamic veil. In his opinion, the national battle continues in universities and EPC seeks "political neutrality, freedom and non-discrimination", ideological and by language - he defends Castilian.

At the end of January, they already caused a controversy when they tried to screen – the UB ended up preventing it – a documentary about "Muslim rapists" in the United Kingdom, created by Tommy Robinson, convicted of contempt for having repeated lies against a Syrian refugee. The union has also broadened the topics it deals with, such as housing: they held an event in October with the Vox deputy Carlos H. Quero. But their activity may clash with that of Se ha Acabado: "Se ha Acabado has been more in the civil sphere and we, in the institutional one. We have the characteristic of presenting ourselves to the elections; when we saw that Se ha Acabado was presenting itself at the UPF I told the president [of the entity] that it shocked us." Despite being "different", they have points in common, for example some guests: next week they will meet with Josep Bou, who had already done events with Se ha Acabado at the Empel Club.

A Se ha Acabado, at the beginning "there was division and it was decided to be more of a movement and not participate in the cloister elections," explains its president, Andrea Llopart. In January they entered a cloister for the first time, with the intention of having an impact, and she highlights that they still live "hard times, even violent ones, when in a stand at an event they want to throw us out," but they admit that the political tension has decreased. For this reason, the entity - which says it has 30 students from the UPF and 25 from the UB - has "adapted": "We continue to fight for the unity of Spain and for the presence of the State in Catalonia, for the Spanish language, and for other issues such as housing or the quality of studies and the lack of well-paid work." They also do not avoid security or opposition to gender quotas, and have opted for varied guests, including Iván Espinosa de los Monteros, who broke with Vox.

In fact, Se ha Acabado is a space of dispute between the PP and Vox: while the previous president, Júlia Calvet, ended up in Vox as a deputy, the current president announced her vote for Alejandro Fernández (PP) on 12-M. And here Llopart sees a strength: "We are going our own way: some will say that we are very much for Vox and others that we are very much for Vox." peppers. It is good for us that they support us, that they ask our opinion, that they trust us, but we are very independent." Regarding a possible dispute with EPC in university elections, he would bet on presenting themselves together, although he claims the transversality of Se ha Acabado, while "Estudiantes para el Cambio is closer to Vox", since it is "their union".

The spokesperson for the Union of Students of Catalan Countries (SEPC), Tània Ros, says that they are "concerned" by the appearance of "fascist groups" in teaching halls, although the pro-independence and progressive student movement is the majority. "It is unacceptable that space is given to these speeches, because they are extremists who spread hate speech. We will kick them out of the classrooms and also out of the streets," she stresses, adding that they remain committed to protesting against them. In any case, the pro-independence left-wing union, which is the majority and present in 50 assemblies – the first quite clearly at the UAB and the UB; and the second at the UPF – is "strong", despite the "moment of decline in mobilisation" after the pandemic and the release of political prisoners.

For his part, the current president of the National Federation of Students of Catalonia (FNEC), Eduard Pla –this Friday there is a change in the organization, which has 60 members and is present at UAB, UB and UPF, a university where they win–, maintains that "the battle continues" and comments on the veto of the "Catalunya". "It is over and other white labels are minority groups, but they make a lot of noise, they have a lot of support from state media; we want to counteract their fictitious and amplified support."