Spanish fascists march in Madrid after Franco death anniversary

By AFP 22 November 2025, 1:20 am

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Demonstrators wave flags and perform the fascist salute during a demonstration called by Falange Espanola de las JONS fascist party in front of the headquarters of the ruling Socialist party in Madrid, on November 21, 2025 (Oscar DEL POZO / AFP)

Hundreds of Spanish fascists marched through Madrid this evening, a day after the country marked the 50th anniversary of divisive right-wing former dictator Francisco Franco’s death.

The Falange — an organization that sees itself as the successor to defunct fascist movements that helped bring Franco to power in a devastating 1936-1939 civil war — protested against what it calls democratic Spain’s 1978 constitutional “regime.”

Making fascist salutes and carrying Franco-era national flags, the Falange paid tribute to the movement’s founder Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, whose November 20 death anniversary coincides with Franco’s.

They then paraded from the headquarters of the main conservative Popular Party to that of the ruling Socialists, where a heavy police presence awaited them, AFP journalists saw.

“National unity,” “PSOE, PP, it’s the same war!” they chanted, according to images posted on social media, referring to the parties’ acronyms. They also carried an anti-migrant banner.