Blas Piñar | |
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| Born | Blas Piñar López (1918-11-22)22 November 1918 |
| Died | 28 January 2014(2014-01-28) (aged 95)[1] |
| Alma mater | University of Madrid |
| Occupation(s) | Politician, civil law notary, writer |
| Political party | Spanish Alternative FET y de las JONS New Force National Front (1985–1993) |
| Spouse | Carmen Gutiérrez Duque |
| Children | 8 |
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Blas Piñar López (22 November 1918 – 28 January 2014) was a Spanishfar-right politician. Having connections toCatholic organizations, during theFrancoist dictatorship he directed the Institute of Hispanic Culture (Instituto de Cultura Hispánica) and served asprocurador in theCortes and asnational councillor (1955–1977). He later became a member of theCongress of Deputies in 1979. He led the far-rightNew Force andNational Front political parties.
Piñar was born inToledo. He was a law student in Madrid when theSpanish Civil War broke out and took refuge in the embassies of Finland and Paraguay, later doing work as a clandestine "fifth columnist" for the Nationalist forces.[2] From 1957 to 1962, he was in charge of theInstitute of Hispanic Culture that was dedicated to managing scholarships betweenLatin American and Spanish universities. After a trip to Latin America and the Philippines, Piñar wrote an article for the Madrid newspaperABC. The article, entitled "Hypocrites," harshly criticized theforeign policy of the United States. At that time,Francoist Spain depended on bilateral relations with the United States to maintain international recognition for the Francoist State. Franco's minister of Foreign Affairs, after giving many explanations to the US ambassador, dismissed Piñar. Despite the dismissal, Piñar's loyalty to the Francoist State did not diminish.
He was an opponent of the breakup of the regime. He voted and argued against thePolitical Reform Act. He saw the law not as an attempt at reform, but an attempt at disintegration. Piñar also opposed theSpanish Constitution of 1978 and voted against it in its entirety.
After the death of Franco, he createdNew Force (Fuerza Nueva), aNational Catholic organization, and in1979 was elected a deputy for theUnión Nacional coalition representingMadrid. Much like most of the deputies, he endured the1981 Spanish coup attempt led byAntonio Tejero, for 18 hours.[3] After the loss of his seat in the1982 elections he dissolved Fuerza Nueva (not the publishing house of the same name which continued publishing). In 1986, with the aid ofJean-Marie Le Pen, he reconstructed the group as theNational Front and stood without success for the European parliamentary elections of 1987 and 1989. In 1992 he became president of theFrente Nacional Español (Spanish National Front), the product of the union between his group and theJuntas Españolas.[4]
