On 6 November, Spain’s Policía Nacional arrested 14 members of Núcleo Nacional in an operation across seven provinces, with Madrid among them. Initial reports put the number of detainees at 12 before updates confirmed 14 arrests and 10 searches, including at the organisation’s Madrid headquarters. Searches recovered knuckle-dusters and electric pistols. Investigating Court No. 1 of Gijón is handling the case, which concerns alleged incitement to hatred and unlawful association, as well as illegal possession of weapons.
The recruitment link emerged from a private White Boys WhatsApp chat analysed in the case. According to the file obtained by EL PAÍS, members used the Asturian group to vet people seeking to join Núcleo Nacional. The chat dates from September 2024.
Applicants were asked why they supported the Nazi cause and told to answer honestly. Recruiters warned that infiltrating the organisation could be dangerous, citing the risk of undercover police officers and antifascists. One applicant was told that joining was no joke.
The exchange also records anger when a candidate failed to give the answers the group’s leaders expected. White Boys members threatened to ask the Führer to have her expelled from Núcleo Nacional.
Investigators counted 14 actions of harassment and 11 so-called hunts targeting immigrants. They also linked members to drug sales and the acquisition of bladed weapons. The file records Molotov cocktails made in Gijón and Oviedo, as well as in Avilés and Castrillón. Reporting on the investigation’s origins linked it to disturbances in Asturias and a gathering of around 100 people near the Heroes of Simancas monument, associated with the exaltation of the Franco dictatorship.
White Boys’ logo included the numbers 14 and 88. The case file links 14 to the word count in two slogans attributed to Ku Klux Klan founder David Lane. In neo-Nazi jargon, 88 stands for Heil Hitler because H is the eighth letter of the alphabet.
White Boys members under 18 were recruited by J. Ruiz, El jefe, a longstanding figure in Asturias’s far right. He had been detained four times and received unemployment benefits for people over 55. His past party affiliations included MSR and Falange Española; he was also associated with España 2000 and Hacer Nación.
The arrest order covered Madrid, along with Asturias and Guadalajara. It also covered Valladolid and Pontevedra, plus Burgos and Alicante. Those detained included spokesperson Iván Rico and alleged ideologue Isabel Peralta. Veteran far-right leader Enrique Lemus was also among them. The Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Asturias said judicial secrecy was lifted after the arrests, while the police operation remained open. Ten detainees appeared before the Gijón court on 8 November and were released subject to precautionary measures, including a ban on leaving Spain and the withdrawal of their passports.
