From Franco to Vox: The revival of necropolitical Francoist rhetoric in the contemporary Spanish far right

This article reflects on the resurgence of racist, patriarchal and ethnonationalist ideologies in contemporary Spain and addresses some of the discursive practices and strategies employed by Spanish conservative and far-right political parties. It examines how Vox and related parties and associations have reactivated a handful of the necropolitical tropes and images that underpinned the Francoist apparatus of repression and repurposed them to suit their current purposes. Firstly, the analysis centres on the complex relationship between the Spanish authoritarian right-wing forces and the violent past of the twentieth century. It demonstrates how they have revived the propagandistic and historicist rhetoric of the Franco regime without explicitly embracing it. Next, the article offers a theoretical discussion on the violent impulses of the new far right, which currently unfold in a scenario of systemic crisis where the global capitalist order has aggravated the destructive techniques of power. Finally, the article analyses three ideological–cultural frameworks that exemplify the recurrence of the patriotic and bellicose fascist language of the Civil War and post-war era: the imaginary of the ‘anti-Spain’ or ‘enemies of Spain’, the medieval myth of the ‘Reconquest’ and the narrative of anti-communism. Overall, this article aims to expose the intersections between the ideological foundations of Francoist violence and those that inform the present far-right discourse in Spain.