On the weekend of 8 and 9 October we witnessed the celebration of the tip of the Spanish right. On the occasion of Columbus Day, Vox organized the event “Viva 22” in the Mad Cool space of Alcobendas. Various interpretations have been made about the participation of this meeting; the extreme right, as it could not be otherwise, has shown great satisfaction at the approach of 30,000 people, as it has been almost 90 years since the extreme right had so many followers. Press and press have stressed that only 10% of their capacity to highlight the failure of the event with toys with a humorous sense has been fulfilled. Others, however, have no reason to celebrate anything, nor to laugh at anything, because the tragic spectacle we have seen brings us nothing but anger and discontent.

The criticism made every year of Hispanidad at this time seems exhausted to me. That is why I will assume that what happened 530 years ago was a huge massacre and that America did not need the “discovery” of anyone, nor of all the “innovations” that had existed since the discovery. I believe that these days the hypocrisy of the Spanish right and certain contradictions, which refer to the nation and to nationalism, are evident. Hispanidad Day, which met in Madrid, is a day of celebration of patriotic pride, celebration of national identity. They claim the right to be proud of being patriotic, of being Spanish, and they accustom to the four winds the importance of identity. At the same time, those who speak of freedom and love for the nation on 12 October, not all, of course, proclaim it in order to freely explain the hatred and contempt for the nationalisms that appear on the periphery. It is also curious how they use the word nationalism in the form of mockery, among other more offensive and harsh adjectives. I say that it is curious because they always use the word nationalism as a mockery and always looking at the Basque Country or Catalonia. The Vox party would never say that the strong screams with Spain that were seen in “Viva 22” on the weekend, the flag, the symbolism and the feeling of the community are nationalism, would not even be mistaken! What we have, of course, is nationalism, separatist nationalism, independence and, as history has clearly shown, aggressive. The only difference I see is that of them is state nationalism, broader, politically hegemonic and therefore legitimate. For nationalism, for nationalism, for particularism and non-state nationalism, under no circumstances. The flags, songs and history they hate so much are a threat to Spain that they feel so weak.

If this were not contradictory enough, the extreme right has other enemies that threaten the identity and integrity of the Spanish State, in addition to the limits of the homeland. The immigration crisis that erupted since 2015 has been a great challenge for European countries. Faced with this global problem, the solution proposed by the right extremities is well known; walls, fronts and expulsions, all of them in the name of security. It is no coincidence that Vox has in his program the same category of “Immigration and national identity”. The project of multiculturalism proposes the recovery of the political sovereignty and centralism of countries by the extreme right of the whole of Europe against dependence on globalist agendas. As they see their nationalism in jeopardy, the tip of the right is aimed at stepping and marginalising all their enemies.

The rise of extreme right-wing nationalisms in Europe is only a symptom of a much more complex situation. Today's globalized world and universalist society pose a challenge to political action. In order to meet these major challenges, the far right proposes simple, too simple and supposedly effective solutions. I do not have formulas to address the challenges posed to us by multiculturalism, globalism and post-modernity, but I am clear that nationalism, chauvinist, aggressive and exclusionary seen in “Viva 22” is not a solution. As Joxe Azurmendi says, “the originality of the nation is not isolated and in its essence ‘clean’ to survive, but to feed and enrich itself from the most varied relationships.”

Juan Tovar Torres

Student of Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Deusto