Barcelona prepares to confront a white supremacist march demanding mass expulsions: "Remigration saves Europe"

Barcelona prepares for an afternoon of maximum political tension in the city center. The far-right movement Save Europe Act will bring its campaign for a "white" Europe and against immigration to Sant Jaume square this Saturday, while several anti-fascist organizations have called for a response in the same place just an hour before.

The far-right event will begin at 7:00 p.m. as the first official stop in Spain of the 'European Shield Tour', a tour that has already visited Brussels, Utrecht, Lyon, and Lille. Its organizers will display a 20 by 20 meter canvas, about 400 square meters, in front of the City Hall and the Palau de la Generalitat to demand the so-called "remigration".

Under this term, Save Europe Act advocates for the accelerated expulsion of irregular migrants, rejected asylum seekers, and legal residents it considers "unintegrated" or a supposed economic and cultural burden. It also calls for suspending study visas and family reunifications to curb "non-Western" immigration.

The organization has called on "Spanish patriots" under the slogan "Europe united against the EU" and accuses Pedro Sánchez's government of promoting a supposed "replacement" of the population. Its propaganda presents immigration as a threat to the ethnic continuity of European peoples and uses the Ceuta crisis to spread this discourse.

A racial campaign rejected by Brussels

Behind Save Europe Act are the Dutch far-right activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek and the Austrian Martin Sellner, one of the main European ideologues of "remigration." Reconquista España acts as its local collaborator and participates in the organization of the Barcelona event.

The movement tried to turn its program into a European Citizens' Initiative, the mechanism that allows asking the European Commission to study a legislative proposal when it gathers one million valid signatures in at least seven member states. Brussels rejected even registering the campaign through Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1922.

The Commission concluded that its proposal directly discriminated on the basis of race and ethnic origin by dividing the population into "native" Europeans and "non-Western" migrants. It also considered the initiative to be "manifestly contrary" to the values of the Union and the rights enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Save Europe Act claims to have received hundreds of thousands of informal adhesions on its website, although these signatures lack validity as a European initiative after Brussels' refusal. The campaign has the backing of continental far-right leaders such as Viktor Orbán, Éric Zemmour, and the president of the far-right Vox, Santiago Abascal.

Barcelona calls to "stand up"

The Coordinadora Antifeixista de Barcelona and the SomAntifeixistes platform have called for a mobilization at 6:00 p.m. in the same Plaça Sant Jaume. Their call denounces that the far-right is trying to "turn racism and xenophobia into state policy" and vindicates Barcelona's anti-racist character.

The supremacist call has also caused a political storm in the City Council. The event appeared for several days on the municipal digital agenda until the council withdrew the publication and attributed what happened to an error by the citizen service department.

The first deputy mayor and acting mayor, Laia Bonet, has assured that the march "is not welcome in Barcelona" for spreading racist, xenophobic ideas contrary to democratic coexistence. ERC and Barcelona en Comú have gone further and demand that the Generalitat use all available tools to prevent it.

The Generalitat and the Mossos d'Esquadra will have to assess the risks and organize the security operation together with the City Council. Anti-fascist groups will arrive at Plaça Sant Jaume at 6:00 p.m. An hour later, Save Europe Act will try to unfurl its gigantic banner there in favor of mass deportations.