Walter Finch
A BRAZEN display of Nazi salutes at an event celebrating the 90th anniversary of the fascist Falange party has stunned Spain…and not just for getting the date wrong!
The Madrid bash witnessed a packed auditorium waving flags and singing Nazi anthems.
But the event comes a year late, with the Falange actually being founded in October 1933. Only in February 1934 did they unite with fellow fascist rabble rousers Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista (JONS).
A shocking video filmed at Goya Theatre shows hundreds of supporters raising their arms as they sing the infamous far-right anthem Cara al Sol (Face to the Sun).
It was later posted on Falange’s own Twitter page triggering outrage and leading to an investigation into whether the display violates Spain’s Law of Democratic Memory.
“Nine decades later, the Falangists continue to raise the flag of dignity, national unity and social justice,” insisted current Falange leader Manuel Andrino Lobo.
They were able to do it, he argued, despite the ‘rubbish’ Democratic Memory law that ‘changes history’.
The law deals with the legacy of the fascist Franco regime, which is sometimes blamed for millions of deaths in Spain.
It outlaws glorifying the military coup and its leaders and the humiliation of its victims.
If found guilty, the organisers could face fines ranging from €10,000 to €150,000 for serious offences.
In his speech to the assembled neo-fascists, some who travelled from Portugal, France and Italy, Andrino railed against the Spanish government, calling them ‘Taliban’ and ‘b******s’ for ordering the removal of ‘crosses, plaques and monuments’.
He also slammed the ‘sad task of removing bodies’ from the fascist tomb of the Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen), just outside Madrid.
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