School soccer fascist salute to be investigated

A video of two five-a-side soccer teams at a state-subsidized private school in Alicante making the fascist salute has caused uproar after it emerged on the web. The incident occurred in 2010. The national anthem, with the words in use during the Franco regime, was played and both sides raised their arms in unison.

“These images are running like wildfire across the social networks,” Esther López Barceló, a United Left deputy said. Barceló called for an “immediate” investigation into the incident.

Education Ministry sources said the matter would be looked into but that as the school is private it has “no authority over the teaching staff; the school board will have to act if they consider it to be opportune.”

A spokesman for the Nuestra Señora de Carmen de Orihuela school issued a statement saying it would not comment “until we have met with the board of directors.”

“Schools, whether they are private or public, cannot tolerate any sort of fascist statement,” said López Barceló.

Noting that the video is “home-made, not official,” the education councilor in Orihuela, Rosa Martínez, said that she would be asking for explanations from the board of directors.