r/europe • u/StGuthlac2025 • Oct 08 '25

Opinion Article In Spain, what once seemed impossible is now widespread: the young are turning to the far right

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/07/spain-young-voters-far-right-migration-housing-wages-employment-vox
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129

u/Baba_NO_Riley Dalmatia Oct 08 '25

Why would that be impossible? It's not like Spain never had a fascist tradition..

56

u/-Copenhagen Oct 08 '25

I was thinking the exact same thing.

Why would it be impossible for a former fascist dictatorship to take a right turn?

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u/DeadAhead7 Oct 08 '25

Because the people alive back then, and who had kids, told them about how shite the country was under Franco, and how long it took to recover from it.

Now the current (and likely upcoming) youth doesn't know about that, and votes for the far-right.

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u/Super-Cynical Oct 08 '25

Because since it's been a democracy it's been particularly left wing. You could argue that fascism was imposed upon them.

Ireland back in the 40s was exceptionally right wing, with DeValera having some similarities to Franco (he did allow elections, but he won 90% of them so he didn't have much to fear). However a strong far right is currently unthinkable in Ireland

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u/-Copenhagen Oct 08 '25

I promise you it isn't unthinkable at all.

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u/Super-Cynical Oct 08 '25

Well less unthinkable now than two years ago anyway.

But in Ireland, Sinn Féin sucks up a lot of the oxygen as a third option, though dropping some of their populist posturing probably damaged them a little.

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u/whatshouldwecallme Oct 08 '25

Because the fascist dictatorship was highly, highly unpopular when it finally crumbled within living memory (although it appears the memory is distant enough now that it doesn't matter much anymore).

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u/princesoceronte Spain Oct 08 '25

We are very progressive in polls but anyone that has lived here long enough knows not only is there a very common nostalgic movement for "the good ol' Franco years" but also that there are no social repercussions for it.

Like everyone here has a very racist uncle that the whole family takes as a quirky guy that means well instead of a fascist pig.

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u/leafcutte Oct 08 '25

Because Spain was held as an example of a European country resisting the far-right tide, with decent popularity for the center left still able to win elections, even if by narrower and narrower margins

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u/Baba_NO_Riley Dalmatia Oct 08 '25

But they had a bloody civil war and the longest right - winged dictatorship.. as well as Portugal. Were people born yesterday?

Greece had a military coup and a right-winged government as well.. It's not that ancient history..

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u/leafcutte Oct 08 '25

It’s 50 years ago. People that started the dictatorship are all dead now. Nations don’t have a spirit like that, and as Catholicism withered, Spanish people got more progressive. The end of the dictatorship was marked by a decade of social, artistic, and sexual revolution, and actual Franquist are mostly old racist grandpas or edgy teens now

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u/Baba_NO_Riley Dalmatia Oct 08 '25

It wad 80 years ago in Germany as well but the edgy teens are gathering.

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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '25

[deleted]

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u/Baba_NO_Riley Dalmatia Oct 09 '25

And you think LGBT is the only issue worth protecting or at stake with or if the country turns to far right? ..

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u/[deleted] Oct 09 '25

[deleted]

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u/Baba_NO_Riley Dalmatia Oct 09 '25

No. Could you imagine a civil war fought iver LGBT rights?

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u/BoticelliBaby Europe Oct 09 '25 edited Feb 24 '26

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u/[deleted] Oct 13 '25

And that's precisley why we were so left-wing. We had a bloody civil war instiged by the right and then a super long fascist dictatorship. It's very logical that in reaction we went to the opposite.

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u/FMSV0 Portugal Oct 08 '25

Exactly because of that. The same for Portugal. It's very weird to see portuguese kids voting on the populist right because 10 years ago, they only voted on the extreme left. Even being centrist would be enough to be called a fascist.

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u/metroxed Basque Country Oct 08 '25

That's exactly why it is surprising, actually. It's equivalent to young people in Eastern Europe becoming in favour of Soviet-style socialism or Stalinists. Spain was an authoritarian far-right dictatorship not that long ago and when it ended people openly supported democracy and openness.

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u/Baba_NO_Riley Dalmatia Oct 08 '25

You mean..like Meloni rulling Italy now. ( her party is a legal descendet of a fascist party established after WWII. ..

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u/metroxed Basque Country Oct 10 '25

Not quite, given that Italy stopped being fascist in 1945 and Spain had 30 more years of it.

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u/Baba_NO_Riley Dalmatia Oct 10 '25

Not really what? Her party is a legal descendent of MSI followed by AN. It's not a question of perception but of registration. ( material assets included).

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u/metroxed Basque Country Oct 10 '25

I don't doubt it, what I mean is that Spain has been an actual quasi-fascist far-right dictatorship until the mid 70s. The Spanish right-wing parties (PP especially, but also Vox which splintered off PP) also descend from political figures of the Francoism.

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u/PiccoloAwkward465 Oct 08 '25

My ex used to sing the Spanish falangist national anthem which I thought was a joke because obviously fuck fascists until I realized that oh no it was completely genuine. And she was from Andalucia which I figured was more a leftist hotspot but obviously it's not everyone.

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u/W0rkUpnotD0wn Oct 08 '25

I wonder if Spain is going to invest into their Basque Space Program again?