28-year-old German Michael Leopold Stiegler was wanted in his country for manufacturing and planting a homemade bomb in the town of Burglengenfeld. It’s a handmade piece in which he uses a mixture of different types of gunpowder and a glass bottle of mercury to replicate the damage. The bomb did not explode because it was found by chance by a neighbor nearby. They suspected that the fugitive from Germany had fled to Spain, and from the very first moment it was clear where they should start looking: in Majorca.
They issued a European arrest and surrender warrant. The Civil Guard began their investigation and indeed found Stiegler on the island. In the town of Peguera. He took refuge in a luxury chalet in the municipality of Calvià.has a large German community. There he went unnoticed and took numerous security measures, often staying hidden inside the villa. The agents had to patiently wait outside for him to leave the house at one point and caught him just as he was going to take out the trash. He was arrested and extradited to Germany.
The operation, christened Huestes, took place in March 2019. The Spanish Ministry of Interior declared that the detainee was a “member of a terrorist organization” at that time. radical far-right collective neo nazi ideology Reichsburger (Reich Citizens), which brings together various neo-Nazi groups and individuals linked to the German far-right and rejects the legality of the Federal Republic of Germany, does not recognize the authorities or institutions of the existing German state, refuses to pay taxes and perform civic duties, openly opposing stance and continue the opposition”.
The name of this neo-Nazi group first appeared in the Spanish media there, in Mallorca, but went unnoticed. Now, almost four years later, the name of Reichsbürger has opened the news all over the planet. Rationale: 25 of the members of this ultra group were arrested for planning a coup against the Federal Republic in Germany.
The Ultra Reichsbürger collective encompasses a heterogeneous nebula of neo-Nazis and those who miss the Kaiser, a member of associations such as: “Government-in-exile of the German Empire” or “Free German Republic”. They deny the existence of the Federal Republic and want to reclaim pre-World War II German borders. It is estimated to have around 21,000 members, mostly men.
Among them, one of the former soldiers of the army who received special military training, Prince Reuß or XIII. German authorities believe that 5% of people in this group are “extremists” and would be willing to commit violent acts. Like Stiegler, whose unsuccessful bomb-planting attempt prompted him to flee to the island of choice for neo-Nazis.
Mallorca has historically been a strategic enclave for the Nazis. Between 1934 and 1945, the island was the headquarters of a group of agents from Hitler’s Germany whose purpose was to detect the presence of people considered enemies of the Nazi regime. It had at least 150 members. And after the fall of Nazism, many fled to Spain and remained on the island. Now, neo-Nazis are following this dynamic. The climate, the air links between the Balearic Islands and Germany, and the large number of German citizens residing on the island make this the perfect getaway.
ultra cyclists
The island is the ideal place to hide (as Stiegler did in 2019) or expand as he wishes to do. A dangerous German biker gang called the United Tribuns. A group of neo-Nazi ultras affiliated with German football teams. The National Police deployed the first division of the United Tribuns in Spain (this is the name of the branches these biker groups have established in each country) in Mallorca in January 2020. Their boss was sentenced to 15 years in prison for drug trafficking last July.
This dangerous motorcycle gang landed on the island in 2018. They managed to capitalize on the power vacuum left by the Hells Angels after their disbandment. Two years later, they took control of drug trafficking in various entertainment venues and recruited their men as security personnel in numerous nightclubs. The police investigation indicated that they also control several hostess clubs, which are one of their main sources of funding. Once consolidated, the idea was to expand in our country; the next chapter would open in Valencia. But the first stone is always cast in Mallorca.
United Tribuns heads convicted sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Palma Court last July, for drug trafficking. The judge considered that it proved that they were engaged in the sale and distribution of ketamine, amphetamine, cocaine, MDMA and marijuana in different parts of Mallorca. Those under investigation even had a laboratory and warehouse located in a warehouse in Palma to store drugs. During the police investigation, agents found National Police and Civil Guard vests in these offices, and these vests presented the criminals themselves as authorized.
hammer skin
The Nazis love Majorca so much that they want to protect it. In 2017, a group of Hammerskins from the Ruhr region (considered by the police as the most dangerous ultra group in the world) entered the concert of German singer Mia Julia. About twenty skinheads disrupted the concert by banging and throwing bottles. Instead of the swastika, they displayed the Kaiser’s battle flag with tattoos on their bare chests, with iron crosses and banners talking about “annexing Majorca to Germany and making it a protectorate”. “Nazis Out!” by those present. They shouted “Strangers out”, which was repeated with their slogan. Mia Julia suspended her performance and after forcing the neo-Nazis to rout, the DJ played her anti-fascist song. Die Ärtze Schrei nach Liebe (Shout for love). Neo-Nazis sought to spread their xenophobic message to other German entertainment venues on the island, after being driven out by opposition from those present at the front.
Hammerskin is actually a far-right group born in the USA. However, it is most rooted in Europe. Although German is the most populous, it has sections in Switzerland, Luxembourg, Hungary, France, Sweden and Portugal. Its members are mostly from Frankfurt., although they also have people from Hamburg or Dortmund. And Mallorca is one of the places where they are often exhibited, although the association is illegal in Spain.
The Hammerskins, who wreaked havoc in Mallorca, were led by: Denis Kiebitz, a Nazi from the city of Braunschweig with a swastika tattoo on his shoulder. The other leader of the Ultra group is Wolfgang Erwin Benkesser from Hamburg. Both practice martial arts and have been involved in cases being investigated by the German Police. Both are common on the island.
innkeeper
But neo-Nazis don’t want Mallorca just for violence. Some choose this place as a retreat, just to get some air and get away from ultra-ideas. This is what happened to the ultra-German politician Holger Apfel, who became the head of the so-called National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) of neo-Nazi ideology in 2011.
He left his job in 2013 and moved to Spain with his wife and four children. For this, he claimed to have health problems, but his departure coincided with accusations against him of gay sexual abuse of a teenager from the party. In an interview with Mallorca Zeitung, she asked him not to relive the episode because he drank too much alcohol and couldn’t remember the episode.
Even so, he also chose Mallorca to settle with his family. There he opened a restaurant named after him. Stub Wonders. However, things did not go well for him. His wife had separated from him and the restaurant was not operating, so he had to hand over. Today that business is an Italian restaurant. Apfel has lost track of it, but more to come; Mallorca continues to exercise this appeal for the most radical Nazis, such as those newly arrested for plotting a coup in Germany.