National Front (Spain, 1986)

The National Front ({{langx, es, Frente Nacional) was a

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

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, ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The National Front was founded and directed by

Blas Piñar Blas Piñar López (22 November 1918 – 28 January 2014) was a Spanish far-right politician. Having connections to Catholic organizations, during the Francoist dictatorship he directed the Institute of Hispanic Culture (''Instituto de Cultur ...

as a successor to the

Fuerza Nueva New Force (, FN) was the name of a far-right political party in Spain founded by Blas Piñar, director of the Institute of Hispanic Culture and longtime ''procurador'' in the Cortes Españolas during the Francoist period. Originally operating ...

. It was created in 1986 with the economic support of other groups of the European far right such as the French Front National and the

Italian Social Movement The Italian Social Movement (, MSI) was a neo-fascist political party in Italy. A far-right party, it presented itself until the 1990s as the defender of Italian fascism's legacy, and later moved towards national conservatism. In 1972, the Itali ...

with the objective of increasing their sphere of influence in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

. In 1987 the National Front did not obtain the 70,000 votes (0.63%) required for representation. A drawn-out debacle ensued that intensified because of the 59,964 votes it obtained at the following elections. Many of the party members, moved by their contempt for the gerontocracy at the head of the party, joined with the

Juntas Españolas Juntas Españolas was a far-right political party in Spain that was created in 1983 after a call had been issued in the now-defunct newspaper '' El Alcázar'' by the newspaper's director, Antonio Izquierdo. The group also followed the failure and s ...

, the ''Unión Patriótica'', and the ''Círculo Español de Amigos de Europa'' ( CEDADE), a

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. In order to slow the decline of its membership, the National Front created the "Youth of the National Front" (''Juventudes del Frente Nacional''), a section headed by Luis José Cillero. With Cillero, who many called the "young ancient", the loss of membership to Juntas Españolas slowed. In 1992, the European allies of Piñar, with

Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (20 June 1928 – 7 January 2025), commonly known as Jean-Marie Le Pen (), was a French politician, lawyer and activist. He founded the far-right National Front (now National Rally) party and served as the party's presi ...

at the lead, threatened to cut their support if he continued to fail. Piñar thought of passing his authority to his right-hand man, Miguel Bernard Remón, founder of Manos Limpias, but he was able to continue to serve as leader after contacting the Juntas Españolas and proposing a new, joint venture. Far-right political parties in Spain Neo-fascist parties in Spain Spanish nationalism Defunct nationalist parties in Spain Political parties disestablished in 1993