In March, Vox achieved its biggest electoral victory. On March 10th Vox entered an autonomous government for the first time with the agreement reached with the Popular Party on March 10 in Castilla y León. The leader of Vox in this region will assume the position of regional vice president in April and the party will lead three ministries —Culture, led by Gonzalo Santonja; Industry and Employment, directed by Mariano Veganzones, and Agriculture, managed by Gerardo Dueñas—. The agreement between the right-wing party and the extreme right-wing party is structured around eleven axes and 33 actions that will include control of content in schools. https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20220310/castilla-leon-ejes-gobierno-coalicion-pp-vox/2307046.shtml https://www.europapress.es/castilla-y-leon/noticia-junta-contara-10-consejerias-divide-fomento-medio-ambiente-20220411141539.html
Nine days later, the party called for a demonstration for the increase in prices. During the meeting in Madrid there is a moment of tension between Vox protesters and militants from the far-right group Bastión Frontal, whom they accuse of being “perroflautas” and “communists”. https://mobile.twitter.com/MalaMalamente/status/1505277988979593224 https://www.europapress.es/nacional/noticia-policia-identifica-miembros-bastion-frontal-cibeles-momento-tension-simpatizantes-vox-20220319144730.html During the demonstration, tweeters affirm that the spokesman for the manifesto of the call has sent a greeting to the Italian fascist union UGL. https://twitter.com/santigigliotti/status/1505136138507460610
This month, the increase of prices has been the main subject for the extreme right. Between March 14 and 25, the transport sector held strikes in protest at the rise in fuel prices called by the Platform in Defense of the Transport Sector, an organization chaired by Manuel Hernández, a supporter of Vox. The protests have the support of the far-right Vox party and groups such as Hacer Nacion. https://www.elsaltodiario.com/transporte/extrema-derecha-capitaliza-malestar-camioneros-trabajan-como-falsos-autonomos-subcontrados https://twitter.com/HacerNacion/status/1507306667045707801 https://twitter.com/vox_es/status/1504841652996816929
The relation between Spanish army and extreme right has been showed too this month. On 23 of March The Tercios Viejos Españoles association, which appears in the official register of the Ministry of Defense, launches a campaign in defense of Captain Antonio Meroño Jiménez, whose Hitlerian ideology was revealed by ‘Público’. Said campaign includes a letter addressed to the parliamentary groups in which they ask for a lesson against this medium. Meroño is related to the Murcian neo-Nazi group Lo Nuestro and Hammerskin Spain. https://www.publico.es/politica/militares-espanoles-esgrimen-libertad-ideologica-defender-capitan-neonazi-piden-vetar-publico.html https://www.publico.es/politica/ultraderecha-ejercito-capitan-neonazi-instruyo-cadetes-ejercito-aire-jefe-inteligencia-ala-14-caza-ataque.html#analytics-noticia:relacionada
Extreme right in the Courts
In the judicial frame, there have been several cases involving the extreme right. On March 8 The 44th Investigating Court of Madrid has sentenced the man who published on social networks his intention to “intimidate” the spokesman for Más País, Íñigo Errejón, for a minor crime of threats. The man, who will have to pay a fine of 180 euros, has been identified as an “active member” of far-right organizations. https://www.publico.es/sociedad/condenado-miembro-activo-extrema-derecha-amenazar-errejon.html
In this month, a sentence of the Constitutional Court has shown the relation between police and Vox. The Court obliges to investigate a case of police torture for criticizing a Vox demonstration in Granada. https://www.elsaltodiario.com/violencia-policial/constitucional-obliga-investigar-caso-torturas-policiales-criticar-manifestacion-vox-granada
At the end of the month, the Supreme Court confirms the sentence of 14 years in prison for sexual abuse of disabled people to Jose Antonio Ortiz Cambray, who was the leader of VOX in Lleida. https://twitter.com/AntonioMaestre/status/1509140547872636932
Transnational Political and Financial Cooperation
About international relations between extreme rights groups, Vox is again the protagonist. On March 15th a delegation from the Vox Solidaridad union traveled to Budapest to celebrate the Hungarian National Day and to support Viktor Orbán. https://ctxt.es/es/20220401/Firmas/39318/solidaridad-sindicato-vox-extrema-derecha-ugl.htm https://aldescubierto.org/2022/03/17/solidaridad-hungria-cara-al-sol-viva-santiago-abascal/
Spanish media publish too new information about the financing by Russian power groups to the Spanish extreme right and specifically to Vox through the Hazte Oír and CitizenGo platforms. https://www.elespanol.com/reportajes/20220319/ultraderecha-vox-oligarcas-putin-traves-hazteoir-citizengo/658184665_0.html
Isabel Medina Peralta, leader of the far-right Bastión Frontal group, had her start moment too on March 17th, when the German police, alerted to the trip of Peralta to Berlin by the Spanish authorities, expelled her from the country. They found a flag in her suitcase with a swastika and a copy of Mein Kampf. https://www.infolibre.es/politica/alemania-expulsa-neonazi-isabel-peralta-entrar-esvastica-copia-meim-kampf11222713.html
About the Ukrainian war, the participation of extreme right activists started now to be shown. On March 21st a former Catalan Falangist who had gone to Ukraine to fight alongside the Foreign Legion returned to Spain and the leader of the Ukrainian far-right organization ‘Tradition and Order’ appears in a statement wearing a Spanish Falange patch. https://cronicaglobal.elespanol.com/politica/ultra-catalan-dura-semana-combate-guerra-ucrania619887102.html https://twitter.com/lagarto_grx/status/1505901801735872517
Mariano García Calatayud, a Spanish retiree who has lived in this country since 2014 and who spreads photos armed with members of the far-right Pravy Sektor militia, is arrested in Ukraine on March 22th and released three days before. https://twitter.com/MiquelR/status/1506746619819143180 https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/4978911/0/que-sabe-mariano-garcia-jubilado-espanol-pista-perdio-ucrania-puede-estar-manos-rusas/ https://twitter.com/MiquelR/status/1506667650990100491 https://www.levante-emv.com/comunitat-valenciana/2022/03/22/primer-prisionero-espanol-guerra-ucrania-es-valenciano-64115431.html https://twitter.com/Miquel_R/status/1506217324088815623
The month ends with a summit in Madrid, on March 26, of neo-fascist parties from France, Germany and Italy with the participation of La Falange and Democracia Nacional, and organized by Alianza por la Paz y la Libertad, to demand the freedom of those sentenced to prison for the Blanquerna case. It also includes the participation of Yvan Benedetti —spokesman for the French Nationalist Party—, Giuseppe Provenzale —the Italian Forza Nuova, Yiannis Zografos —Elasyn—, Claus Cremer —Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschland—, Nick Griffin —British National Party (BNP)—. https://www.elconfidencialdigital.com/articulo/politica/cumbre-madrid-partidos-neofascistas-francia-alemania-italia/20220317173450367012.html https://luhnoticias.es/madrid-acoge-una-cumbre-de-partidos-neofascistas-europeos/