Sitting proudly in wheelchairs or with walking sticks, the surviving British veterans of Spain’s civil war have finally been given Spanish citizenship in recognition of their fight against General Franco seven decades ago.

Three of the former soldiers warned, however, that fascism is on the rise again after the success of the British National Party (BNP) in the European elections.

In a ceremony at the Spainish Embassy in London, Carles Casajuana, the Spanish Ambassador, presented each of the six men and one woman, aged between 94 and 101, with a passport. “This is an act of gratitude, an act of recognition,” he said. “We wish to pay homage to a group of extraordinary men and women who, 70 years ago, decided to give up their comfortable life and go to Spain to fight for democracy and freedom.”

The veterans were among 2,300 socialists from Britain and Ireland who joined tens of thousands of like-minded people from across the world to form the International Brigades. From 1936 to 1938, they fought alongside the Spanish Government against the forces of Franco, which were better equipped. Thousands died, many more were injured and Franco ultimately won in a bloody conflict that is widely regarded as the precursor to the Second World War.

Times Archive, 1938: Hard fighting at the Battle of Ebro

Severe fighting continued as squadrons of Nationalist aeroplanes bombed Republican positions

• Archive topic: The Spanish Civil War

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• Spanish Civil War veterans granted citizenship

Sam Lesser, 95, was shot in the leg and left to die in no man’s land in December 1936. A colleague came back to rescue him.

“I didn’t know where I was wounded at first,” he told The Times. “All I knew was that when I tried to get up I couldn't.”

Mr Lesser, like most of his compatriots, was spurred to travel to Spain by his hatred of fascism — an animus that has not waned with age. He fears the recent success of the BNP, which claimed two seats in the European Parliament.

“This is no joke,” Mr Lesser said. “For all their protestations that they are not the same as they were, they have the same filthy policy of racism, which started off in Germany with Hitler’s campaign against the Jews.”

Paddy Cochrane, 96, from Ireland, and Jack Edwards, 95, who grew up in Liverpool, agree. “I am very worried about it because what will happen is you will have nation against nation,” said Mr Edwards. “At the moment we are working together to a certain extent but once you get nationalised people like that coming in you get them trying to isolate people.”

Politics aside, the veterans celebrated their new, dual Spanish nationalities.

“I cannot find the words,” said Lou Kenton, 101, who first visited the Spanish Embassy in 1937 to get a visa so that he could drive his motorbike to Spain.

Thomas Watters, 96, originally from Scotland, is the only veteran who did not join to fight fascism. He wanted to put his first-aid skills to good use to help the wounded as an ambulance driver. “I feel great — elated,” he said. “This is one of the greatest days of my life.”

Joseph Khan, 94 and Penny Feiwel, 100, also received passports, while the son of Jack Jones, who died in April , received one on behalf of his late father.

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