Across #Europe, including Spain, far-right movements often link #immigration, #Islam, and #insecurity. These associations are emotional, not factual, designed to activate instinct rather than reflection.

Islamophobia works because it offers clarity in a complex world. When economic, cultural, or technological change creates anxiety, blaming an identifiable group feels simpler than addressing structural problems.

Modern #farright campaigns don’t talk about “#race.” They talk about “#values,” “#tradition,” or “#cultural preservation.” This cultural framing allows extremist ideas to circulate in mainstream debate.

The #media environment amplifies this. Outrage performs well; fear goes viral. Debates about “#identity” and “#Islamization” attract clicks and votes, regardless of their accuracy.

#Socialmedia has become an echo chamber where isolated incidents, a crime, a protest, a rumor, are reframed as proof of civilizational threat.

The repetition of these messages produces normalization. Once people hear the same frame (“they don’t respect our values”) enough times, it becomes common sense.

#Islamophobia also serves as a gateway: it connects cultural nationalism with other forms of exclusion, #antiimmigrant sentiment, #sexism, or #homophobia, under a single banner of “defense.”

The result is political polarization. Instead of policy debates, societies end up debating identity — who belongs and who doesn’t.

When fear becomes the foundation of politics, democracy weakens. The antidote isn’t silence; it’s storytelling grounded in truth, dignity, and shared belonging.

🌍🇺🇳 Con motivo del 80 aniversario de Naciones Unidas, la Fundación Euroárabe presenta esta tarde el conversatorio. 👉 “80 años después: La crisis global de la gobernanza multilateral: retos, perspectivas y oportunidades” con Younes Abouyoub de Naciones Unidas 🗓️Jueves, 16 ⏰18h.

Hui presentem a Barcelona l'informe de l'L'Associació de Drets Sexuals i Reproductius "D’Espanya al món: la projecció global de la ultradreta espanyola contra els drets sexuals i reproductius", una anàlisi de quí i com s'articulen aquestes batalles polítiques i culturals. lassociacio.org

1/ In Reclutados, Sergio Gracia Sergio warns that recent far-right mobilizations in Spain—like a Falange march to Lavapiés—are not spontaneous. They reflect a long strategy of recruitment and normalisation

2/ What’s striking: in those rallies the average participant was around 18 years old—a red flag that youth are being targeted. Sergio asks two key questions: Where are young people being recruited? And what do they seek in these groups?

3/ Locations of recruitment include extreme sports/ultra fan groups (in soccer), gyms/ combat sports centers, and nascent “Active Clubs” (fitness + ideology). Also, social media and family ties play a central role.

4/ What draws youth? Many feel socially excluded or lack identity, belonging, or support. Far-right groups exploit that vacuum, offering belonging, purpose, and protection.

5/ In particular, these “Active Clubs” mix fitness, masculine idealization, nationalism, and calls for action. They often frame Europe as “decaying” and under threat by immigration, feminism, and loss of values.

6/ The emotional hooks are strong: camaraderie, shared struggle, loyalty, protection. These bonds suppress dissent and make leaving the group risky.

7/ Sergio argues that to counter this, society must provide safe spaces for identity, community, critical education on masculinity, and preventive monitoring of recruitment vectors.

8/ In short: the far right is not just gaining votes—it’s embedding itself quietly among vulnerable youth, using social, physical, and emotional tactics to recruit and radicalize.

9/ The solution must be collective: families, schools, sports clubs, civil society, and state all need to act to prevent radicalization and offer healthier alternatives of belonging and identity.