The German anti-Islamist group, Pegida, has opened a branch in Spain, it has claimed.
It was launched on Twitter on 8 January, the day after the deadly attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris in which 12 people were assassinated.
Pegida (“Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the Occident”) began its demonstrations last October in Germany. It is against multi-culturalism diluting Germany’s traditional culture and its targets range from Islam and asylum seekers to the media and political elite.
The Spanish branch has just over 800 followers on its Twitter page and over 2,700 likes on its Facebook page.
Its Twitter account is already following those of several far-right Spanish groups including the Falange, the nationalist party that provided the ideological basis for Francisco Franco's 1939-75 dictatorship.
"We are preparing a demonstration by Pegida Spain, where members of Pegida Germany will attend. We will publish the date on Twitter and announce it by email," the group said in an e-mail sent to AFP.
Its initial plan was for a demonstration on Monday outside Madrid's main mosque but government authorities refused permission and suggested a different location.
Spain’s 47 million inhabitants include some two million Muslims. There are around 1,000 mosques, Islamic cultural centres and prayer halls, according to the Union of Islamic Communities of Spain.
Pegida activists have said it plans to begin operations in Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavia.
