Traditionalist Carlist Communion (1986)

TheCarlist Traditionalist Communion (CTC) is a Spanish political party, formed in 1986 at the so-called "Carlist Unity Congress" held in San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Madrid), in which various Carlist groups of traditionalist ideas were unified, in disagreement with the leftist evolution of the Carlist Party of Carlos Hugo de Borbón-Parma.

It takes the name of the Carlism political party from the end of the 19th century Traditionalist Communion, with the addition of 'Carlista' (Traditionalist-Carlist) that was given to him on occasions during the 1930s at the initiative of Don Alfonso Carlos.

Three different political parties participated in the «Congress of Carlist Unity»: the Catholic-Monarchic Communion, linked to the «Centro de Estudios General Zumalacárregui» of Francisco Elías de Tejada, located in Madrid; Carlist Union, made up of the last supporters of Carloctavism and the Regency of Estella, with establishment in Vizcaya and Catalonia; the Traditionalist Communion, made up of former followers of Javier de Borbón-Parma, with a presence in Valencia, Seville, Madrid and Asturias; and former members of the Carlist Party.

Celebration of the feast of Christ the King at the Cerro de los Angeles (Getafe)

In 1996 the followers of Sixto Enrique de Borbón were expelled, who, in the year 2000, reconstituted their own political organization, under his leadership, readopting the same name of Traditionalist Communion.

Ideology

The CTC affirms that its political position is focused on the historical motto of Carlism, "Dios, Patria, Fueros, Rey". It also maintains the historical Carlist symbology, including the Cross of San Andrés, the Oriamendi March and the classic red or white beret.

It seeks a model of social organization qualified as "natural" and inspired by the political tradition of Spain, formed by the kingdoms and territorial divisions that were formed during the Reconquest. Thus, it wants to replace the Statutes of Autonomy with a foral system of respect for subsidiarity. In addition, they intend to eliminate political parties and implement an organic political system of direct representation and not through parties.

Regarding the religious issue, the CTC is a confessionally Catholic group, claiming to defend the Social Doctrine of the Church as the basis of its political action. It starts from the principle "Nothing without God", which it defends in its political program: it assumes Christian Public Law, applying a Catholic worldview to all aspects of social life. In this line, the CTC is radically opposed to divorce, abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriages, institutional secularism in public education and any other concept contrary to the Catholic vision of family or life.

Dynastic issue

Since its creation, the CTC has defined itself as monarchic and legitimist, although it currently does not recognize any claimant as King. The last King of the Carlist Dynasty to be officially recognized as Legitimate King is Alfonso Carlos I, who died in 1936.

On November 4, 2016, its Governing Board made a political Declaration proposing an equidistant position between Carlos Javier de Borbón Parma and his uncle Sixto Enrique.

Economic policy

The CTC justifies its program in orientation with the Social Doctrine of the Church, although there is no clear roadmap in economic matters. There is a certain division in relation to capitalism and the market economy, with certain tensions of a considerable nature (there is a more Falangist-inspired programmatic confrontation).

Those who are more favorable to the free-market theses of the Chicago School and the Austrian School have been accused of infiltrating the party (indeed, some of them, now at VOX, have been accused of consolidating a paleolibertarian caucus.

Austrians are more likely to follow Rubén Manso Olivar, Miguel Anxo Bastos and Jesús Huerta de Soto, while the opposite faction is inspired by economist Daniel Marín Arribas, researcher Felisa Turuleta and tax consultant Javier de Miguel Marqués.

There are actually two digital media heavily involved in this tension. The party most favorable to the market has the newspaper Navarra Confidencial while the party most critical of libertarianism has the Traditionalist Editorial Association, which favors distancing itself from the former. Both were founded by people who at some point have or have had responsibility in the CTC.

Structure and activities

The CTC has a work structure based on a Governing Board, whose current president since October 2022 is Javier Garisoain, and its general secretary is Javier Mª Pérez Roldán. This Governing Board is formed from the National Congress. There are Carlist circles and groups in various Spanish towns such as Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Valencia, Pamplona, Seville, Liria (Valencia), etc., maintaining links with traditionalist Catholic groups from other countries. It also has a youth association, called Cruz de Borgoña, which organizes annual youth camps, as well as the bimonthly magazine Ahora Información. It is linked, along with other organizations, to the Traditionalist League.

XIII CTC Congress, held in Madrid in October 2018)

The CTC has taken part in various demonstrations against the policy of the José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero government: against same-sex marriage (2005), against the Organic Law of Education (2006), against the negotiation of his government with ETA in Pamplona (2007), and against the extension of the Abortion Law (October 17, 2009), among others.

On December 28, 2012, the CTC was one of the entities calling for "pro-life" in various places in Spain such as Madrid, Barcelona, Pamplona, Valencia, Valladolid, Santander, Zaragoza, Seville, Granada or Jaén. The other convening entities were the far-right parties and organizations Alternativa Española (AES), Derecha Navarra and Española (DNE), the Cruz de San Andrés association and the Arbil Forum. The manifesto registered the adherence of another 48 associations.

Electoral participation

CTC participated in the 1994 European Parliament elections, obtaining 5,226 votes (0.03%) throughout Spain, of which 473 were in Navarra (0.21%). He also contested the 2004 general elections, running for Senate in many constituencies, and obtaining nearly 25,000 votes.^{[citation needed]} In the general elections of 2008, he ran for the Senate, this time in all constituencies, obtaining results of approximately 45,000 votes for the upper house.

European elections 2014

The heads of the political parties Comunión Tradicionalista Carlista, Alternativa Española and Partido Familia y Vida reached an agreement to run together in the elections to the European Parliament in May 2014. According to their manifesto, the bases of this agreement revolve around the defense of the right to life and the family institution. The coalition finally formed around these three parties was called Impulso Social. The electoral results of Impulso Social in these elections were 17,774 votes. After these results the coalition separated.