Who is the far-right group that arrives in Barcelona claiming white supremacy and the expulsion of immigrants?

BarcelonaThe far-right, which claims the primacy of the "autochthonous" and "white" population in Europe, puts Barcelona on the map of its continental offensive. The Save Europe Act movement – which calls on the European Union for the forced "remigration" (expulsion) of non-European migrants to protect the "ethnic continuity" of the continent's "native peoples" – will make its first stop in Spain this Saturday, August 22, in Plaça Sant Jaume in Barcelona. The event is part of a tour that has already passed through Brussels, Utrecht, Lyon, and Lille, and comes at a time when immigration management – with the Ceuta crisis as a backdrop – is at the center of European political debate.

However, the demonstration has been surrounded by controversy from the outset: for a few days, the Barcelona City Council's portal had published the call within the city's summer activities section. Sources from the council consulted by ARA attribute the publication to "an error by the citizen service, which collects all calls," and assure that it was removed "as soon as it was detected." Nevertheless, the municipal government has wanted to distance itself from the event: "This weekend's demonstration is not welcome in Barcelona," stated the first deputy mayor, Laia Bonet, this Thursday, who criticized a movement that, she says, "intends to spread racist and xenophobic ideas contrary to democracy." The Government, for its part, has announced "a reinforcement" of the Mossos d'Esquadra's operation to "supervise, ensure, and audit" that attendees do not incite hatred or violence, and has warned that it will forward any criminal conduct detected during the event to the Prosecutor's Office.

In parallel, the Anti-fascist Coordinator of Barcelona and SomAntifeixistes have called to "face them" with a counter-demonstration at the same location. The spokesperson for the Coordinator explains to ARA that they have decided to act in response to "the city council's mistake" and because "fascism cannot have a place in Barcelona." Furthermore, they have demanded "political responsibility" from the council, arguing that they have engaged in "propaganda" through their portal and that this is an "unacceptable mistake." Regarding the double demonstration on Saturday, they wanted to insist that theirs is "a peaceful political movement that does not seek physical confrontation," although they are not entirely closing the door to it: "We will not be the ones to apply violence, but neither will we be the ones to criticize it if it is to defend oneself from fascism." ERC has also joined: the Citizenship and Migrations sector has "repudiated" the City Council's "institutional dissemination" of the event, and the party's general secretary, Elisenda Alamany, has warned the PSC that "there are no excuses" for not prohibiting it.

Who is behind the Save Europe Act?

Save Europe Act is, formally, a European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) – the legal tool that, with one million signatures from at least seven member states, obliges the European Commission to examine a proposal and respond to it. It was launched at the end of May by Dutch activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek, but its intellectual architect is considered to be the Austrian Martin Sellner, one of the reference figures of this new far-right movement. Specifically, they are calling for a moratorium on non-Western immigration – including the suspension of study and family reunification visas – until, they say, "social cohesion and cultural continuity" are re-established in Europe.

The European Commission refused to register the initiative on July 22, considering it "manifestly contrary" to the EU's values, understanding that it was based on people's ethnic and racial origin and not on an individual assessment. The organizers, who claim to have already informally gathered 600,000 signatures, have announced that they will take the Commission to court. The movement has the declared support of far-right leaders such as Hungary's Viktor Orbán, Romania's George Simion, Italy's Roberto Vannacci, and Vox president Santiago Abascal, who in a recent tweet on X showed himself to be in favor of Vlaardingerbroek: "There are young Europeans who are not willing to stand idly by while their nations and their future are snatched away from them."