Antisemitism and the extreme right in Spain, (1962-1997)

Spain had an antisemitic tradition going back to the time of the persecution of Conversos and the expulsion of the Jews in 1492. The alliance between Franco and Nazi Germany during the Spanish Civil War opened the way for the emergence of racist antisemitism in the Spanish Right. The first Spanish neo-fascist and neo-Nazi groups emerged in the 1960s, during the crisis in the Spanish Right; they gained force in the democratization period (1976-82). The principal extreme right organization was CEDADE (Círculo Español de Amigos de Europa); after its dissolution in 1993, some new rightist organizations adopted its ideas. Antisemitism has not been a central issue for the Spanish extreme right, but it has been far from negligible. Its main elements are racism, the idea of a Jewish world conspiracy, and Holocaust denial. Many rightists combine antisemitism with anti-Zionism. The extreme right tries to influence public opinion through proliferating publications. In recent years laws were enacted in Spain limiting extreme right activities and prohibiting Holocaust denial. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)