The Normalization of Hate
Over a year ago, I wrote in Jot Down about the so-called «Remigration Summit» held in Potsdam — a project by Germany’s far-right AfD party that, in truth, wasn’t new at all.
The rise of the far right in Europe is visible in proposals like «mass remigration,» now championed by far-right party Vox in Spain. The similarities with AfD’s agenda are evident. We are living in confusing times, in which traditional conservatives in Germany — both at home and in the European Parliament and Commission — are growing increasingly close to far-right forces.
One example is the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum. In theory, it promises to better manage migration. In practice, it seeks to externalize it and keep refugees outside EU territory. In other words: expulsions.
The Normalization of the Far Right in the EU: Meloni
A striking example is Giorgia Meloni’s plan to deport migrants to supposedly “safe” third countries like Albania. It’s important to remember that Meloni leads a far-right party — and yet Ursula von der Leyen gave Fratelli d’Italia a vice-presidency in the European Commission, breaking the traditional consensus between conservatives and progressives in the European Parliament.
In order to facilitate expulsions and circumvent recent legal challenges, Meloni’s government approved a decree allowing entire countries to be declared “safe”.
However, the plans were blocked by both Italian courts and the European Court of Justice, which ordered Italy to take back seven migrants from Egypt and Bangladesh who had been sent to Albania. Italy had tried to declare as safe countries that included regions deemed unsafe. Justice Minister Carlo Nordio criticized the EU ruling, suggesting that Italian judges had misunderstood it. He also claimed that some migrants might lie about their nationality to avoid deportation.
Meloni has long used fears of the «Islamization» of Italy and Europe to justify her policies. Her approach reflects a broader trend: the growing influence of far-right ideas in EU politics, like the controversial agreement with Albania to host migrant detention centers.
In Germany, the traditional refusal to cooperate with the AfD is eroding. Conservative leaders have started saying that working with the far right “might not be so bad.” The so-called cordon sanitaire — the Brandmauer or «firewall» — is under serious threat.
Spain: Hate Speech Leads to Hate Crimes
In Spain, Vox isn’t innovating; it’s recycling ideas from other far-right parties, such as Le Pen’s. The party has proposed a mass deportation policy that would target even legal immigrants who “fail to integrate”. This concept of ‘remigration’ is essentially ethnic cleansing in legalistic disguise.
AfD launched this concept during its 2023 Potsdam summit, alongside neo-Nazis and conspiracy theorists. AfD launched this concept during its 2023 Potsdam summit, together with neo-Nazis and conspiracy theorists. Since then, the party has helped normalize it in public discourse. Vox even proposed deporting seven million migrants. It’s an absurd idea — it would wreck the Spanish economy — but it’s designed to attract votes. Vox uses social media to appeal to young people (and not-so-young people) with authoritarian, sexist, nationalist, and xenophobic messaging.
Other parties go even further. These include Se Acabó la Fiesta (led by Alvise Pérez), and even Aliança Catalana, a far-right Catalan nationalist party that promotes racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric. While they present themselves as antifascist due to Franco’s repression of the Catalan language, their political behavior follows authoritarian patterns.
The result: the banalization of Francoism and the normalization of hate.
The tweet of the famous author
Even prominent intellectuals like writer Arturo Pérez-Reverte have praised Meloni’s rhetoric — saying he’d like to be Italian and that Spanish politicians should act like her.
In the tweet above, Pérez-Reverte uses a kind of false equivalence…
«I listen to Feijóo, Abascal, Sánchez, or any of the petty politicians we have here, then I compare their words, tone, and content with those of that blonde lady, and I feel a huge (albeit momentary) urge to be Italian».
But that Meloni said is the narrative of Abascal, he politician whom he criticizes too.
Santiago Abascal is a fan of Trump, who even congratulated him in Washington for his good work. It’s funny because in Spain people joke about “Obiscal” (how Trump says Abascal) and how the far-right leader doesn’t seem to like working. He calls himself a patriot who loves the military, but he never did his own military service.
Feijoo is a conservative spanish leader who uses to form coalitions with the right in regional governments and has expressed its intention to do so if it has the chance to enter government in 2027 (even though its party is currently calling for early elections). Abascal is the leader of Vox party, the most important in Spanish far right constellation. Pedro Sanchez is the prime MInister of Spain (left). In a kind of false equivalence (equidistance) typical of ‘sovereign democracy’ and the European far right, Pérez-Reverte lumps everyone together in the same group.
The European far right legitimizes itself by copying ideas and strategies from one another, successfully pushing a racist, exclusionary, and reactionary discourse as if it were just another political option within a democratic framework.
The hate is ready to be dished out, fueled by extremist groups and hateful rhetoric. Next episode: Torre Pacheco.
The Racist Attacks in Torre Pacheco: The Immigrant Hunt
Torre Pacheco is a town in the southern Spanish region of Murcia with a large migrant population (30%), mostly from North Africa. Some people refer to it as «Torremoro», a racist slur reflecting deep-rooted xenophobia, particularly against Moroccans. Torre Pacheco has become a flashpoint in Spain’s immigration debate.
The town recently experienced an unprecedented crisis. The trigger: the beating of a 68-year-old man, which was used by far-right groups as a pretext to launch a wave of racist violence against the migrant population, mostly of Maghrebi origin.
In just 72 hours, this town — where 32% of residents are foreign-born — witnessed riots by far-right extremists, many of whom traveled from other cities and were mobilized via social media.
The attacks were incited by the racist pan-European platform “Deport Them Now.”
Shops were attacked, garbage bins were burned, violent clashes broke out with young men of Moroccan descent, and racist slogans like “Moros out!” and “Long live Franco!” (although «Generalísimo Franco is still dead»since 1975) were shouted. Nine people were arrested, more than 130 officers were deployed, and roadblocks were set up to contain the violence.
Authorities confirmed that many of the viral videos justifying the attacks were fake or manipulated. Investigations into hate crimes have been launched. The government has accused Vox of fuelling the violence with xenophobic rhetoric.
Meanwhile, fear dominates the town. Businesses remain closed. Children are not going to school. Some families have even left their homes.
A Deeper Crisis
The unrest also reflects the alienation of second-generation youth, born in Spain but often feeling excluded and without real opportunities.
Torre Pacheco’s economy depends on intensive agriculture, which relies heavily on migrant work— often under precarious conditions with little support or protection.
Meanwhile, Vox blames the government for the riots and refuses to condemn the violence. But what they don’t say is that they have links to the racist platform Deport Them Now, with which they have previously collaborated — including in Barcelona.
Days after the events, the situation has calmed down but is still far from being a calm situation.
The president of (regional government) Murcia, Fernando López Miras, has asked the Interior Ministry to send all necessary help to restore peace in Torre Pacheco, where a tense calm currently prevails after recent violence. The Guardia Civil 1 has increased its presence with up to 120 officers to maintain order as more clashes are expected.
The mayor called for calm but warned about the tense atmosphere and urged outsiders not to come (far-right activists) and worsen the situation. Authorities say far-right speeches linking immigration to crime have fueled the violence, which is now under control, and hate crime investigations are ongoing. Spain’s Prime Minister condemned racism and called for unity, while Vox blames the main parties for illegal immigration and supports mass deportations. Residents see the recent attack as the last straw in a long period of tension. Meanwhile, the Moroccan Association has reported threats against their community and demands urgent action. Overall, the town lives under a tense calm as police work to prevent further unrest.