Why ban fascism in the Spanish Constitution and not other totalitarian ideologies?

If a country intends to stop those who threaten democracy, it should do so with everyone, not just with some anti-democrats.

Six Spanish political parties support dictatorships, and all six are left-wing
Spanish Parliament refuses to condemn the crimes of Nazism and Communism

Yesterday, the Socialist minister Ángel Víctor Torres proposed "updating" the Spanish Constitution to prohibit fascist demonstrations, claiming that this is what is done in other European countries. In reality, only two European countries expressly prohibit fascism in their Constitutions but not other totalitarian ideologies: Italy and Portugal. The Constitution of the Italian Republic prohibits the Fascist Party in its Transitional Provision XII. The Constitution of the Portuguese Republic states in its Article 46.4:

"Armed associations, including those of a military, militarized or paramilitary nature, are not permitted, nor are racist organizations or those that advocate fascist ideology."

There is another European country that includes an explicit reference to fascism in its constitution: Poland, but in this case, it also mentions other totalitarian ideologies. The Constitution of the Republic of Poland states in its Article 13:

"Political parties and other organizations whose programs are based on totalitarian methods and the modes of activity of Nazism, Fascism and Communism are prohibited, as well as those whose programs or activities sanction racial or national hatred, the application of violence to obtain power or influence the policy of the State, or provide for the secrecy of their own structure or their members."

Similarly, Austria has a constitutional law from June 1945 dedicated to banning the Nazi Party. Its Article 1.1 states:

"The NSDAP, its paramilitary organizations (SS, SA, NSKK, NSFK), its affiliated subdivisions and associations, as well as all National Socialist organizations and institutions in general, are dissolved; their re-establishment is prohibited."

Furthermore, the Constitution of Latvia states the following in its preamble:

"The Latvian people did not recognize the occupying regimes, resisted them and regained their freedom, re-establishing their national independence on the basis of state continuity on May 4, 1990. They honor their freedom fighters, commemorate the victims of foreign powers and condemn the communist and Nazi totalitarian regimes and their crimes."

Similarly, the preamble to the Fundamental Law of Hungary (as the country's constitution is called) states:

"We do not recognise the suspension of our historic constitution due to foreign occupations. We deny any statute of limitations for the inhuman crimes committed against the Hungarian nation and its citizens under the national socialist and the communist dictatorship."

There is no other European constitution or constitutional law that makes any mention of fascism or Nazism. However, there are other countries that prohibit totalitarian organizations with laws of constitutional rank. The Fundamental Law of the Federal Republic of Germany states in its Article 9.2:

"Associations whose aims or activities are contrary to criminal law or directed against the constitutional order or against the idea of ​​international understanding are prohibited."

Article 21 adds the following in points 2 and 3:

"(2) Parties which, by their aims or by the conduct of their members, seek to undermine or abolish the free and democratic fundamental order or endanger the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany are unconstitutional.
(3) Parties which, by their aims or by the conduct of their members, seek to undermine or abolish the free and democratic fundamental order or endanger the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany are excluded from state funding. If such exclusion is established, tax benefits for these parties and donations to them will also cease."

There are other democratic countries that prohibit totalitarian ideologies or organizations with ordinary laws, such as Ukraine's Law 317-VIII of 2015 (which prohibits the propaganda of communism and national socialism and the use of their symbols), Latvia (which in 2013 banned the symbols of the USSR and Nazism), or Lithuania (which banned the communist party in 1991).

If certain parties were to be banned constitutionally based on their ideology, the logical course of action from a democratic standpoint would be to follow the examples of Germany or Poland, which do not limit their ban to a single totalitarian ideology, but prohibit all of them. That is only fair. Communism is as totalitarian and anti-democratic as Nazism and Fascism. Let us remember, in case anyone is still unaware of these facts, that communism has killed more than 100 million people and has established more than fifty dictatorships (some of which still oppress a fifth of the human population today).

Obviously, the PSOE doesn't want to follow this model because Pedro Sánchez leads the only European government with communist ministers. In fact, the alignment between the Spanish socialists and communists has reached alarming levels. Let's remember that in 2021, the PSOE voted alongside its communist allies against the European resolution condemning the crimes of Nazism and Communism, because supporting it would have meant condemning the genocidal crimes perpetrated by Marxist dictatorships. It's incredibly cynical that this same PSOE now comes to give us lessons on democracy and calls for a constitutional reform that bans fascism while turning a blind eye to its communist allies.