The Spanish Circle of Friends of Europe (; CEDADE) was a Spanish

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

group that concerned itself with co-ordinating international activity and publishing.

History

The group began life in 1966, under Franco's rule, ostensibly as a society for the appreciation of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

but before long it had taken on a neo-Nazi dimension, influenced by the likes of

Otto Skorzeny Otto Johann Anton Skorzeny (12 June 1908 – 5 July 1975) was an Austrian-born German SS-''Standartenführer'' in the ''Waffen-SS'' during World War II. During the war, he was involved in a number of operations, including the removal from power ...

, who was a founding member. Martin A. Lee, '' The Beast Reawakens'', Warner Books, 1997, p. 186 Counting

Léon Degrelle Léon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle (; 15 June 1906 – 31 March 1994) was a Belgian Walloon politician and Nazi collaborator. He rose to prominence in Belgium in the 1930s as the leader of the Rexist Party (Rex). During the German occupatio ...

among its leading members, the Circle became a study group and publishing house for materials relating to

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

and

Holocaust denial Historical negationism, Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazi Party, Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims: ...

, with a remit towards closer co-operation across

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Initially led by Ángel Ricote, the group looked towards

Italian fascism Italian fascism (), also called classical fascism and Fascism, is the original fascist ideology, which Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini developed in Italy. The ideology of Italian fascism is associated with a series of political parties le ...

for inspiration, but under Pedro Aparicio it moved towards a Nazi position.José L. Rodríguez Jiménez
Antisemitism and the Extreme Right in Spain (1962–1997)
CEDADE, whose headquarters were located in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, established a branch in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

in 1973. The group had 2,500 Spanish members by 1985, with smaller groups also active elsewhere. Among those associated with the group was Klaus Georg Barbie, the son of

Klaus Barbie Nikolaus Barbie (25 October 1913 – 25 September 1991) was a German officer of the ''Schutzstaffel'' and ''Sicherheitsdienst'' who worked in Vichy France during World War II. He became known as the "Butcher of Lyon" for having personally tortu ...

, who was revealed by ''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

'' to have worked closely with CEDADE whilst living in Barcelona between 1965 and 1978. Internationally CEDADE also maintained close links to the likes of Mark Fredriksen,Lee, ''The Beast Reawakens'', p. 202 Bela Ewald Althans, Povl Riis-Knudsen, Salvador Borrego, Wilfred von Oven, Pekka Siitoin and

Richard Edmonds Richard Charles Edmonds (10 March 1943 – 23 December 2020) was a British far-right politician and activist. He was the deputy chairman and national organiser of the British National Party (BNP) and also prominent in the National Front (NF) d ...

. Secretary Jordi Mota also established links between CEDADE and

, with whom Mota was on friendly terms.Magnus Linklater, Isabel Hilton & Neal Ascherson, ''The Fourth Reich: Klaus Barbie and the Neo-Fascist Connection'', Hodder & Stoughton, 1984, p. 227 Taking a European outlook, it set up groups in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, as well as in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

and registered as a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

in 1979 under the name of ''Partido Europeo Nacional Revolucionario'' (European National Revolutionary Party), although this initiative was not pursued. As a publishing house, however, CEDADE continued to grow and was soon publishing for a number of movements in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Using the name ''Ediciones Wotan'' for this initiative, it published works by the likes of Degrelle and

Francis Parker Yockey Francis Parker Yockey (September 18, 1917 – June 17, 1960) was an American fascist and pan-European nationalist ideologue. A lawyer, he is known for his neo- Spenglerian book '' Imperium: The Philosophy of History and Politics'', published in ...

and collaborated closely with the

Liberty Lobby Liberty Lobby was a far-right think tank and lobby group founded in 1958 by Willis Carto. Carto was known for his promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories, white nationalism, and Holocaust denial. The organization produced a daily five-min ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Financial difficulties forced a major scaling down in activities around 1989-90 however, although the group did host an international centenary celebration of Hitler's birthday in 1989. The problems inherent in the movement did not go away however and they were officially dissolved in October 1993. Members drifted away into various movements, with only Project IES representing a serious attempt at refoundation. This group was ultimately merged into a far right party,

National Democracy National Democracy may refer to: * National democratic state, a state formation conceived by the Soviet concept of national democracy * National Democracy (Czech Republic) * National Democracy (Italy) * National Democracy (Philippines) * National De ...

References

{{Authority control Neo-Nazi organizations Neo-Nazism in Spain Organisations based in Barcelona Far-right politics in Catalonia

History

See also

References