Spanish court suspends far-right group over alleged hate crimes

A Spanish judge has suspended the activities of the ultra-right group Nucleo Nacional as part of an investigation into alleged hate crimes and illegal association.

The court in the northern city of Gijon announced the ruling on Thursday, ordering the group’s office shut and its social media content and bank accounts blocked.

The move follows the arrest last week of 14 of its members on suspicion of inciting hatred against vulnerable groups and people with opposing ideologies.

The decision comes ahead of Spain’s general election on November 29 and a day after the first nationwide general strike in 14 years.

In a video posted on X, an unnamed Nucleo Nacional representative wearing a black shirt with the group’s logo said the movement was a victim of “persecution and political repression”.

Nucleo Nacional describes itself as a political movement. On its website, which has now been blocked and suspended by court order, it says it seeks a “national awakening”. Spanish authorities have scrutinised the group over its anti-immigration rhetoric, particularly after thousands of migrants crossed in July into Ceuta, Spain’s North African enclave.

Police also searched the group’s headquarters in Madrid and other locations. They said they seized more than 20 firearms, some of them unlicensed, along with large quantities of ammunition and other illegal weapons.

The court said key members of the organisation had already been placed under precautionary measures, including a ban on leaving Spain and a requirement to report weekly to a court.

Reuters also reported last month that Spanish police arrested three members of a far-right group in Madrid on October 3, after tens of thousands marched across the country over the housing crisis.

The Spanish government said far-right activists, some performing Nazi salutes, tried to reach demonstrators camped in the Puerta del Sol square.