This time, the sabre-rattling and inappropriate behaviour are not from former soldiers speaking in WhatsApp groups. A video released by Spanish newspaper La Marea shows that Francoism is alive and well, and living in today's Spanish armed forces. The recent recording made in the installations of Spain's Parachute Brigade (BRIPAC), shows its members giving fascist salutes while they sing a song recalling Spain's Blue Division - the Spanish unit which fought alongside Hitler's army in World War II.
However, Spain's defence ministry has preferred to turn a blind eye. Minister Margarita Robles was asked specifically about this video, in addition to the internet chats and letters involving retired military officers, but she limited herself to saying that they are cases "from the past" and to making a fierce defence of the Spanish armed forces.
The video
Recorded exactly a year ago, in December 2019, the video of Spanish soldiers giving Nazi salutes as they sing along with a neo-Nazi band was released today by La Marea:
[EXCLUSIVA] Soldados españoles hacen el saludo nazi mientras cantan una canción de la División Azul en un cuartel del Ejército. Lo cuento en @lamarea_com https://t.co/dv31meo8Qe pic.twitter.com/xLigXT2LX1
— Miquel Ramos (@Miquel_R) December 16, 2020
The soldiers are seen singing a song by neo-Nazi rock band Estirpe Imperial, as they give the Nazi salute, arm in arm. The song recalls the División Azul, the Spanish army division of 17,000 troops sent by Franco to fight alongside the Nazis on the Eastern front. La Marea says the images were filmed on December 8th, 2019, at the headquarters of Spain's Parachute Brigade, near Madrid.
Looking the other way
Spanish defence minister Robles was asked by a Basque Nationalist MP in Congress today about this video, but she simply claimed that all of the recent revelations were "facts of the past that do not represent the current army", pointing to the fact that the video is from last year. She also said that she as a minister "has responsibility for the active military professionals" - a category which does indeed include the protagonists of the video.
The Socialist minister defended that "the current Army consists of 120,000 men and women who are completely subordinate to the Constitution". And she even went on the counterattack, saying that such accusations are due to "prejudices" about the Spanish army.
Sources close to Margarita Robles affirmed that, before anything else, they need to check the veracity of the information, such as whether it was really filmed within a military installation. Secondly, the defence ministry played down the existence of military elements who are politically undemocratic, because the Spanish armed forces are "exemplary" and maintain the principle of political neutrality, as proclaimed in the Spanish Constitution.
Podemos demands tough action from Robles
However, a response to the PSOE minister has arrived from the Socialists' own government coalition partner, Unidas Podemos, which wants Robles to take tough action. In a tweet, the party's leader in Congress and spokesperson for Catalunya en Comú, Jaume Asens, warned that the issue was "no longer about retired soldiers alone" and that the "infiltration into the armed forces by the far right" is "alarming". For this reason, he affirmed that, "as in Germany, the defence minister must put an end to justifications of nazism in the army."
Es alarmante la infiltración en las fuerzas armadas de la extrema derecha. Ya no son solo militares retirados. Como en Alemania, la ministra de Defensa debe acabar con la apología al nazismo en el Ejército. pic.twitter.com/kboieD2ygy
— Jaume Asens (@Jaumeasens) December 16, 2020
Prosecutors considering the Whatsapp chat
Robles had already closed ranks with the army after the internet chats and letters to Spain's king by retired military officers which have emerged in recent days. The defence minister put the issue in the hands of public prosecutors to consider whether a possible crime had been committed. Robles's department argued that "it is up to the prosecutors to investigate the possible criminal importance" of the affairs and also "to safeguard the honour and public esteem of the armed forces."
"Their exemplary conduct is far removed from any action which rejects the respect due to a democratic, pluralistic society based on political and ideological freedom," the ministry said in a statement. "And their public esteem, earned through their constant dedication to duty, to Spanish society and, at this time, to those who suffer most severely from the consequences of the pandemic, must not be damaged due to actions that are completely alien to them and which might deserve criminal reprimand", concluded the defence ministry declaration.