Méndez de Vigo signed a letter in 1976 justifying violence by Spain’s far right
He did so as one of 17 students from the Complutense University of Madrid
BarcelonaThe current Minister of Education and spokesman of the Spanish government, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, signed a letter in 1976 justifying violence by the far right. The letter, sent to then-Minister of Education Carlos Robles Piquer, states that "the violence committed by what is incorrectly known as the far right is a reflection of its legitimate self-defence against assault from groups to which it is diametrically opposed, those of a decidedly communist nature". The letter was subsequently published in La Voz de Galicia newspaper on 21 March, 1976.
More recently, the letter was widely shared on Twitter after it was posted by Bildu [a Basque separatist party] senator, Jon Inarritu.
The letter was signed by seventeen students from Madrid’s Universidad Complutense, who declared themselves to be opposed to the "violence perpetrated by the far left", in reference to protests by groups of students at the university. "As long as the peaceful coexistence of the university is not duly guaranteed, no other response can be expected from those who wish for the autonomy of the university to serve to eradicate the intolerable blasphemy and the outrageous insults to our homeland and the King", declared the 17 students.
