Milícia Catalana (; MC) was a Spanish nationalist and Catholic armed group that operated between 1986 and the mid 90s in Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 24 August 1985, the group was formed by Catholic priests affiliated with the Parroquia de San Félix Africano, who espoused the integralist teachings of Marcel Lefebvre, alongside notable figures from the Hermandad Sacerdotal Española. The emergence of this group is due to the parallel emergence in Spain of other violent right-wing groups that attacked the democratic opposition and the growing independentist and/or socialist movements. The political wing of Milícia Catalana was the Catalan Patriotic Movement (MPC).
The main targets of the group were Catalan independence-related associations and independentist organizations, such as the Moviment de Defensa de la Terra, the most prominent extra-parliamentary political expression of the independence movement, and Terra Lliure, a far-left terrorist organization; but Milícia Catalana also attacked clinics where abortions were practiced (in 1989, the Dexeus Clinic's façade was damaged by an explosion attributed to the organisation), LGBT locals and brothels. Similarly, they sent threats and intimidated collectives of the alternative left and those who satirized Catholicism, like Els Joglars, a popular theater company. One of its most famous attacks was the fire near the Sanctuary of Montserrat in August 1986, burning 2,000 hectares, 75% of the mountain area, and leaving 1,000 people isolated in the sanctuary for a day.Un incendio provocado aislo a mil personas en Montserrat. El País. XAVIER DOMENECH Manresa 19 AGO 1986. The group was also opposed to other far-left non-Catalan armed groups, such as ETA and GRAPO.
The group had relations with the Spanish police, denouncing pro-independence groups in collusion with the police and the Guardia Civil.La Veu. June 2004. This was confirmed by the death of a policeman, and Milícia Catalana militant, while planting an explosive in 1989. That the police gave Milícia Catalana information about the independentist movement was confirmed by Juan Carlos Criado Guasch, one of the founders of the group, in 1989.
Ideology The ideology of Milícia Catalana was deeply rooted in Catholic integralism and Spanish unionism, drawing significant inspiration from Marcel Lefebvre's teachings. Their official stance was published on their Manifiesto Social (1989), where they outlined their objectives and unwavering commitment to their cause. Within this manifesto, the group expressed opposition to bourgeois nationalism, separatism, the 1978 constitution and what they perceived as "amoralist, secularizing, and foreignizing currents".
Their actions were strategically directed towards supporting an "armed struggle", primarily targeting Catalan nationalist and separatist organizations, as well as bookstores associated with these movements. Additionally, they singled out entities or individuals whom they saw as challenging or diverging from the established moral standards upheld by Catholic doctrine. This led them to focus their activities on venues promoting Catalan nationalism, such as independentist gatherings, along with establishments like sex shops, gay bars and saunas, and abortion clinics, which they vehemently opposed on moral grounds.
History 1985–1986
Milícia Catalana was founded on 24 August 1985 in Catalonia, with a founding group composed of Carlos Francisoud Araguas, Juan Carlos Criado Guasch, and Jorge Laborda Porta, among others. The organization emerged from local traditionalist Catholic circles in Barcelona, including individuals associated with the Parroquia de San Félix Africano, associated with the Lefebvrist movement, and the Hermandad Sacerdotal Española. Its precursor nucleus also included Catholics who mobilized against the screening of Hail Mary, a controversial film by Jean-Luc Godard that distorted and slandered themes of the Christian faith.
On 27 August 1985, three days after its founding, MC first came to public attention after a member left an explosive at the headquarters of the separatist group Crida a la Solidaritat in Barcelona. Subsequently, the group began a campaign of attacks in Barcelona directed against targets deemed as hostile to Catholic tradition, aswell as Catalonian separatists. On 5 September 1985, an explosive was planted at the Oasis sauna on Carrier Balmes, an attack that the group later claimed. Four days after, MC left a bomb in an erotic bookshop on Carrer de la Diputació, injuring the owner and an employee. The actions of Milícia Catalana continued during July 1986, as it carried a series of operations against bars, saunas and homosexual establishments in Barcelona during the earlier days of the month. By 14 July 1986, MC had a reported number of 15 attacks, with the last one being a Molotov cocktail attack against the Catalanist bookshop of Joan Ballester that same day.
On 17 July 1986, two members of Milícia Catalana, Juan Carlos Criado and Carlos Francisoud, executed a bombing at the Girona headquarters of the Moviment d'Esquerra Nacionalista (MEN), a far-left separatist organization. The bomb destroyed the MEN headquarters, but there were no fatalities or personal injuries. Criado was identified by three members of the Crida, who recognized him from the Crida attack in 1985. The perpetrators were later arrested after a pursuit, and the group’s first period of activites came to an end. During their detention, both members were totally cut off from communication, and on July 25, 1986, both Criado and Francisoud were imprisoned in Modelo prison and La Trinitat prison, respectively.
See also Catalan Patriotic Movement Terra Lliure
References
Sources