History of the far-right in Spain

Individuals and organizations associated with the far-right in Spain often employ reactionary traditionalism, religious fundamentalism, corporate Catholicism, and fascism in their ideological practice.

One notable member of this subgroup was Pedro de Inguanzo y Rivero, a prominent Bishop (and later Archbishop of Toledo) who was proclaimed cardinal by Pope Leo XII.

[4] During the crisis of the Restoration, which was accentuated from 1914 onwards, the extreme right represented itself as a force against secularization of Spain and in favour of the interests of the Catholic elite; various far-right thinkers would meet in the Centro de Acción Nobiliaria (Nobility Action Centre).

[5] In 1919, the Sindicatos Libres was founded in Barcelona; the organization represented Carlist workers and carried out acts of terrorism against the anarcho-syndicalist Confederación Nacional del Trabajo.

[7][8] The period of the Alfonso XIII regime directly preceding the establishment of the Second Republic, marked by the dictatorships of Miguel Primo de Rivera, Dámaso Berenguer, and Juan Bautista Aznar-Cabañas (1923–1931), saw the consolidation and strengthening of ultra-conservative, anti-liberal, and anti-democratic forces within the Spanish Army, who promoted these far-right positions through the publications El Ejército Español ("The Spanish Army"), and from 1928 onwards, La Correspondencia Militar ("The Military Correspondence").

[9] In March 1931, mere days before the collapse of the Spanish monarchy, the far-right publication La Conquista del Estado ("The Conquest of the State") was founded to promote fascist views to the working masses.

[16] A number of fascist organizations were founded in this period, including the Movimiento Español Sindicalista (MES), and Falange Española and the Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista.

Another member of the military and monarchist activist, Juan Antonio Ansaldo, was put in charge of organizing the paramilitary components of the party: the "Falange de Sangre" and the "Primera Línea".

Both Maeztu and the politician José Calvo Sotelo published articles that promoted fascism and urged an anti-Republican alliance that would include traditionalists and Falangists in the lead-up to the Spanish Civil War.

[26] After Franco's death, during the period of transition to democracy in Spain, the far-right implemented a so-called "estrategia de la tensión" ("strategy of tension") aimed at preventing the smooth consolidation of a liberal democratic system, carrying out a number of acts of terrorism.

[30] During the 1979 Spanish general election, the extreme right won a single seat through the Fuerza Nueva ("New Force") coalition led by the charismatic Blas Piñar.