A Spanish judge has ordered the suspension of the ultra-right group Nucleo Nacional's activities as part of an investigation into alleged hate crimes and illegal association, a court in the northern city of Gijon said on Thursday, November 12. The ruling ordered the group's office shut and its social media content and bank accounts blocked.

Source: Reuters

Offices shut, accounts and social media blocked

The Gijon court's order suspends the group's activities while the investigation runs. Reuters reported that the ruling ordered the group's office shut, its social media content blocked and its bank accounts blocked, following searches in which police also searched its headquarters in Madrid and other locations. Spain's Democrata reported the measure as a total cessation of the organisation's activity, with the closure of its offices in Madrid, Burgos and Valladolid and the blocking of its social media profiles; Awaaz Punjab reports both accounts of the same court order.

Source: Democrata

14 arrests last week; more than 20 firearms seized

The ruling follows the arrest last week of 14 Nucleo Nacional members on suspicion of inciting hatred against vulnerable groups and people with opposing ideologies, Reuters reported. Police said officers had seized more than 20 firearms during the searches, some of them unlicensed, as well as 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.

Source: Reuters

Authorities allege — this is the investigators' allegation, not a court finding — that the group recruited and indoctrinated young people, including minors, encouraging them to carry out acts of hatred, discrimination and violence against vulnerable groups. Democrata reported that police reports in the case file include conversations between members about the use of weapons, as well as contacts with foreign far-right organisations, and that the investigation also covers the group's structure and alleged involvement in violent actions. No member has been convicted of any offence in this case, and the investigation remains open.

Source: Democrata

Group calls it persecution; scrutiny grew after Ceuta rallies

An unnamed representative of the group, wearing a black shirt with the NN logo, said in a video posted on X that the movement is a victim of persecution and political repression, adding: 'They won't beat us.' Nucleo Nacional describes itself as a political movement; on its website it says it is a movement seeking a 'national awakening' and aiming to build a community of trained activists capable of carrying out what it calls 'authentically revolutionary' political and social action.

Source: Reuters

The group has come under scrutiny from Spanish authorities over its anti-immigration rhetoric, Reuters reported, especially after July's mass crossing by thousands of migrants into Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta, where Nucleo Nacional members staged anti-immigration rallies. Democrata described the organisation, as characterised by the investigating magistrate, as a neo-Nazi organisation — that description is the court's characterisation as reported by Democrata, and the group itself rejects the authorities' account.

Source: Reuters

What happens next: the suspension is a precautionary court measure, not a final ban or a verdict — the Gijon investigation into alleged hate crimes, illegal association and, per Democrata, illegal possession of weapons will determine whether charges proceed to trial. With a general election on November 29 and immigration already a live campaign issue after the Ceuta crossing and this week's strike politics, the case is likely to feature in the campaign argument between the government and the right, each side citing the same court order for opposite claims.