On Friday, crowds took part in the march to commemorate Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, the founder of Falange Espanola, who was executed by the Spanish Republican government on November 20, 1936. Created in 1933, Falange Espanola was a nationalist party inspired by Italian fascism.
People were seen lighting torches, holding their right arms aloft in far-right salutes and singing the Falangist anthem ‘Cara al Sol’ (Facing the Sun). The demonstrators marched holding banners belonging to the Falangist party and Spanish flags, and took a route from Genoa Street in Madrid to the Valley of the Fallen, to the northwest of the city.
In October, protesters rallying for Spanish unity following the Catalan independence referendum were spotted giving fascist salutes both in Barcelona and Madrid. Back then, the participants also held banners linked to the Falangist party.