National Democracy (Spain)
National Democracy (, DN) is a far-right political party in Spain, founded in 1995. It is modelled on the National Rally (RN) of France, and grew indirectly out of several defunct parties like the Spanish Circle of Friends of Europe (CEDADE) group and "Juntas Españolas". Until 2018, its leader was Manuel Canduela Serrano, a former member of "Acción Radical", a group active in the Valencian Community. He was also a vocalist in the so-called "identity" rock group Division 250. The current leader is Pedro Chaparro. In the 2004 general election, the party got 15,180 votes throughout  Spain, amounting to 0.06% of the total vote. In the 2008 general election, it got 12,588 votes, amounting to 0.05% of the vote. That dropped to 0.01% of the vote in the 2011 general election, with 1,876 votes. In 2007 the party gained three town councillors: two in Tardajos and one in Herradón de Pinares. In Tardajos it governed with the People's Party. In the 2011 local elections one town councillor was elected under the DN banner in Tardajos. In the 2015 local elections DN lost the seat in Tardajos but gained a new town councillor at Cuenca de  Campos, that they lost in 2019. History. The party was formed in January 1995 by members of the far-right groups, CEDADE and the Juntas Españolas. CEDADE had been a neo-Nazi group led by prominent fascist figure and Nazi collaborator, Léon Degrelle. The Juntas Españolas had been a far-right party that attempted to copy the image and strategy of the French National Front. The party's first president was Juan Enrique Peligro Robledo. Later Manuel Canduela, a founding member of the neo-Nazi musical group Division 250, became president in 2004. He had previously directed the party's  youth wing, the Democracia Nacional Joven. In July 2013 ND joined forces with La Falange, Alianza Nacional, Nudo Patriota Español and the Spanish Catholic Movement in the La España en Marcha initiative; that year on Catalonia's national day members of these parties staged altercations at the Blanquerna Cultural Center of Catalonia to protest Catalan independence. The party was a founding member of the far-right European political party, the Alliance for Peace and Freedom, founded in 2015 with other members including Forza Nuova and the National Democratic Party of Germany. In 2019, National Democracy formed an electoral coalition, ADÑ  Identidad Española, with FE-JONS, Spanish Alternative and La Falange to contend in the 2019 European Parliament election in Spain. Ideology. The party has been described by Spanish political observers as far-right, adopting many of the features of the Nouvelle Droite movement. The party espouses anti-immigration rhetoric and xenophobia directed towards non-Spanish citizens. In territorial politics they defend the unity of Spain being staunchly nationalist and opposed to Catalan independence. The party is eurosceptic, it supports the dissolution of the union.