A HUNDRED FALANGE PARTICIPANTS DEMONSTRATE IN CALLOSA
More than a hundred people took part on Saturday in the demonstration organized by the Spanish fascist movement, the Phalange (“Phalange”), demanding that the Cruz de los Caídos de Callosa, the Cross of the Dead, remain in place in the center of Callosa del Segura. .
They joined with members of the local community in saying that the monument, which they believe is now part of the fabric of the city, should be exempt from the historical memory law, which was introduced by the government. socialist in 2007 and which demands the removal of objects which glorify the memory of Franco in the civil war.
However, it also provides for some exceptions for “artistic, architectural or religious-artistic” reasons. What protesters and a group of residents claim the socialist mayor has chosen to ignore.
The event was attended by Manuel Andrino, leader of the Phalange in Spain. He was part of a contingent of around 65 supporters who arrived in Callosa, after being taken off by bus from Madrid.
He also gave perhaps the most inflammatory speech of all speeches constantly referring to the “bastard of Zapatero”, who approved the Historical Memory Law, and the “fools who drafted it 9 years ago. .
Despite the provocative tone of the speech, the protest proceeded without major incident although there were isolated skirmishes and verbal clashes in which a group of spectators demanded the removal of the banners from the falange, but they did not. required the brief intervention of the ten Civil Guards. officers standing next to it.
The local opposition group, the Platform for the Defense of the Cross of Callosa, stressed that they were in no way linked to the protest, although one of their members, Carmelo Bernabéu, read a statement prepared for the assembly.