Isabel Peralta, one of Spain’s most prominent neo-Nazi activists, and closely linked to UK nazis, was at the centre of violent disorder in Madrid on Sunday, as members of her organisation, Núcleo Nacional, attempted to disrupt the city’s International Women’s Day demonstration, one of the largest feminist marches in the Spanish capital.
Ten members of Núcleo Nacional were arrested by the National Police during the march, which was convened by the 8M Commission, a coalition of feminist organisations, and attended by tens of thousands. The arrests, on charges of public disorder, mainly targeted the organisation’s leaders.
Peralta herself, however, evaded capture although filmed using a megaphone to incite those present.
Stormed the stage
At one point, the organised neo-Nazi group attempted to storm the stage. The demonstration’s own security cordon held them back, but stewards were punched and kicked by the attackers.
Peralta has become the most recognisable face of Spanish neo-Nazism.
She first came to widespread attention in February 2021 when, aged 18, she delivered a speech at an authorised Falangist event in Madrid paying tribute to the Blue Division, Spanish volunteers who fought alongside Nazi Germany on the Eastern Front.
She openly describes herself as a fascist, a national socialist, a Holocaust denier, and an antisemite.
Her profile has grown steadily ever since. In September 2021 she was invited to a course run by the German far-right party Third Way in Düsseldorf.
Banned for life
The following March, she was detained and deported upon arriving at Frankfurt Airport carrying a Nazi flag and a copy of Mein Kampf.
In January 2023, Germany banned her from entering the country for life on security grounds.
In September 2023, she spoke at a conference organised by the British self-styled intellectual magazine Heritage and Destiny in Preston, where she received a standing ovation from a gathering of drooling, elderly white men.
She had been questioned by police at Manchester Airport under counter-terrorism legislation before being allowed entry.
Political row
Searchlight broke the story of this visit, and we demanded that then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman explain why someone banned for life from Germany had been allowed into the UK. The story triggered a major political row, including a letter to Braverman from Jeremy Corbyn.
Peralta, who is now described as the magazine’s European correspondent, was subsequently subject to a banning order, preventing her from attending the H&D conference last year.
Her legal troubles at home have mounted alongside her international notoriety.
In April 2024, Madrid’s Provincial Court convicted her of a hate crime against migrants, sentencing her to one year in prison and a fine of €1,080. She is currently appealing that verdict.
Hitler portrait
Núcleo Nacional, which registered legally as an association in August 2024, operates from a premises in the Fuencarral district of Madrid.
Images circulated by the group itself show a portrait of Adolf Hitler displayed inside the headquarters.
Last August we exposed the identity of the masked leader behind Núcleo Nacional, Iván Rico Olivares, revealing his family’s ties to the Partido Popular, and detailed Peralta’s central role in the new organisation.
A court in Valladolid has been conducting a secret investigation into Núcleo Nacional for over a year, focused on the group’s anti-immigration campaigning and its promotion of white supremacist ideology.
