Vox tries to ban Arran and anti-fascist groups

The day after the leader of the Popular Party, Pablo Casado, opens the door to banning Catalan parties with connections to the Committees for the Defence of the Republic (which he views as violent) Vox makes plans to petition the public prosecutor’s office to ban the left-wing pro-independence youth organization Arran along with other anti-fascist groups the party sees as “illicit associations” promoting acts of “intimidation and hate”.

The far-right party, led by Santiago Abascal, who claims to be armed with a Smith & Wesson gun, denounce a “wave of attacks and aggressions” citing events like that which took place on January 12 at Balmes Street in Barcelona, where a hundred or so people stopped an event from taking place that Vox’s Barcelona spokesperson Jorge Buxadé had planned to attract sympathisers (called Cañas por España). The Catalan branch, led by Ignacio Garriga argues that Arran has “directly” claimed responsibility for actions against Vox and demands a meeting with the delegate of the Spanish government in Catalonia, Teresa Cunillera, to address these “crimes” and demand a security committee meeting to create a “coordinated plan” to support Vox’s “political rights”. Arran responded with a traditional anti-fascist chant: “No passaran” (they shall not pass).