MADRID – An online store dedicated to the sale of fascist Falange merchandise is being funded through the Next Generation EU program and the Recovery, Restoration, and Resilience Plan.
These European initiatives were set up to tackle the economic consequences of the pandemic. However, Tiendafalangista.com offers a range of disputed products. Hereunder, are Falange shirts, Spanish flag bracelets and Francoist patches. Additionally, even a catalogue of books by prominent theorists of European ultranationalism. Falangism was the Spanish version of European fascism and José Antonio Primo de Rivera founded the political party.
Kit Digital grant for fascist merchandise website
The company behind the website is Lengua Editorial SL. It is based in Valencia and is eligible for the Kit Digital program. This program supports the digitalisation of small and medium-sized businesses. Furthermore, it provides grants for various aspects of digital development. These include websites, online stores, cybersecurity, and social media visibility. Lengua Editorial SL received a minimum grant of €2,000 due to its small workforce of less than three employees.
Products go against EU values
However, the controversy arises because Tiendafalangista.com sells products that criticise and ridicule symbols. Among these are the flag of the European Union and the symbol of the UN Agenda 2030. This has raised concerns about the use of EU funding to support a website that promotes ideologies that may go against the values of the European Union.
Historical Memory Act
The only possible way to exclude a company like Lengua Editorial SL from receiving these subsidies is if it violates Article 39 of the Law on Historical Memory. This is according to the Ministry of Digital Transformation. That law prohibits public subsidies to entities involved in activities considered violations of the law.
This situation highlights a paradox: EU funding intended to support economic recovery inadvertently supports a platform that contradicts the principles of the European Union itself.