Homophobic Franco nostalgists are using the controversy over Catalonia’s 2017 independence vote to polarize what was once a beacon of tolerance in Europe. Nearly 45 years after Spain’s fascist dictator Francisco Franco died and this country transitioned to democracy, a resurgent far-right movement is once again on the march. Just look at the past few weeks. Days after Spain swore in a new left-wing government this month, far-right leader Santiago Abascal declared a “war without a barracks” in the Parliament, courts and streets of Europe’s fifth-largest economy. Bombastic rhetoric quickly manifested into action. Two weeks ago, his ultra-nationalist Vox party marched thousands through Spanish cities, denouncing Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez as a “traitor” to the nation. This past week, his lawmakers wrangled new provisions allowing parents to yank children from public school lectures that teach sexual safety and understanding of the LGBTQ community, which Abascal derided as the “corruption of minors” with “erotic games.” Far-right movements have spread across the developed world over the past decade as voters angered over income inequality, decaying social services and increasing chaos from conflicts and climate disasters have sought easy answers in age-old social divisions. It’s a sign of the movement’s expanding reach that the moves here in Spain came within days of a march by gun-toting extremists in Richmond, Virginia, and an announcement by France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen that she will run again for president.
via huff: How Spain’s Far-Right Is Exploiting A Local Political Fight To Start A Culture War