The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Opinion The Catalan independence movement is not behind the rise of Spain’s far right

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May 6, 2019 at 8:57 p.m. EDT
Catalan pro-independence demonstrators rally in Madrid on March 16. (Emilio Morenatti/AP)

Quim Torra is the president of the Catalan regional government.

The Spanish extreme right is fueled by a fear of true democracy, of diversity, of equal opportunities and women’s rights. They have used fear and hate as their main tools to cultivate growth, as Anne Applebaum’s deeply reported essay shows.