Spanish Alternative ( es, link=no, Alternativa Española, AES) () is a
far-right political party in Spain. It describes itself as "social Christian and cross-sectional". Its Secretary General is the lawyer and businessman Rafael López-Diéguez, former member of the far-right
New Force, active formation during the Transition and managed by his father-in-law, the historic leader Blas Piñar, who was named honorary president of AES, a post which he held until his death in January 2014.
[Casals i Meseguer, 2009, p. 252. «Finalmente, del ámbito ''fuerzanuevista'' surgió también una nueva formación en el 2003, Alternativa Española ES que se desvinculó oficialmente de discursos nostálgicos. Su líder, Rafael López-Diéguez (yerno de Piñar), definió así su meta: « ESdebería ser el partido que obligara al PP a no deslizarse hacia ese centro en el que confluyen todos y por lo tanto carente de toda ideología y principios, salvo el de ‘todo vale’»»]
History
Spanish Alternative was founded with the support of
Fuerza Nueva Editorial; it was in its registered office where the party had its first headquarters. AES was founded in 21 of April 2003. According to its General Secretary, AES aroused "because the
PP betrayed its
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
voters and the
Spanish people
Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both i ...
as a whole".
It maintained contacts with the party
Navarrese and Spanish Right (DNE).
Ideology
AES holds its program declaration and its public action in four principles: the "defense of life" (opposition to any type of abortion), the "pro-family", "Christian roots" and the "unity of Spain". When the party has to place itself on the political spectrum, AES defines itself as a cross-sectional party that is positioned on the right in moral matter and on the left in social and economic matter.
Thus, AES considers homosexual adoption to be an attack on the family and is against
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
s and even same-sex civil unions. It has been described as akin to "fundamentalist Catholicism".
Spanish Alternative takes a hard line on the
Autonomic State by proposing to abolish the autonomous communities. To the party's mind, the State of Autonomies is unviable and unsustainable because it constitutes an economic catastrophe, because it has been the main contributory factor to the present crisis, because it promotes the breach of the national integrity and cohesion in its continuing development and because it entails unequal rights among Spaniards depending on their place of birth or residence. However, AES would keep the provincial privileges of
Navarre and the
Basque Country.
Although AES doesn't use symbols of
Franco's regime,
the party has been described as neo-Francoist as well as being considered to be inheritor of New Force.
Election results
In the
municipal elections of 2015 the party gained 5 town councillors. 2 in
Las Labores and 1 in
Ampuero
Ampuero is a municipality located in the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain. It is surrounded by the municipalities of Limpias, Liendo, Voto, Guriezo and Rasines. Its strategic location in the centre of the Asón-Agüera County has mad ...
,
Bárcena de Pie de Concha
Bárcena de Pie de Concha is a municipality located in the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain. According to the 2007 census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of ...
and
Villanueva de la Condesa.
European Parliament
References
Bibliography
* {{Citation, last1=Ávila López, first1=Enrique, year=2015, title=Modern Spain, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zjkVCwAAQBAJ, series=Understanding Modern Nations, publisher=ABC-CLIO, at=427, isbn=978-1-61069-601-2
Catholic political parties
Catholicism in Spain
Conservative parties in Spain
Eurosceptic parties in Spain
Far-right political parties in Spain
Fascist parties in Spain
Political parties established in 2003
Spanish nationalism
Neo-fascist parties