Another day in Spain’s perverted pseudo-democracy

I have written on other occasions that, whatever the Catalan independence movement might think, the actions of Spain’s PSOE government would sooner or later result in a confrontation. PM Pedro Sánchez has decided to starve the PP of any electoral oxygen and pick up where his predecessor, former PP leader Mariano Rajoy, left off. And he’s wasted no time in getting down to work. Monday’s arrests and the unfortunate political and media circus which ensued are a reflection of the Socialist Party’s strategic turnaround. On Monday it became abundantly clear that this will not be a typical election campaign and that anything could happen.

The operation which took place in the wee hours of Monday morning was a textbook exercise in propaganda. Madrid’s Audiencia Nacional court, the heir to Spain’s TOP courts [POC or Public Order Court, created during the dictatorship to deal with political crimes] of the Franco era, orders a raid involving over 500 members of its military police, sent in to give an impression of violence. They immediately leak a farcical video in an attempt to pass off a large plastic bag and a cooking pot as evidence of terrorism. The court then issues a statement detailing the dismantling of a terrorist cell which only exists in its imagination, while associating the CDR (1) with the use of violence. According to the court, the search turned up ‘material and substances that are regarded as precursors for the production of explosives, capable (pending official verification) of being used to manufacture explosive devices’.

The convoluted Orwellian Doublespeak employed by the Spanish institutions conceals the fact —which is precisely why they use it— that what has been found are substances which can technically be used to build a bomb but, in reality, can be found in nearly everyone’s home, including PM Pedro Sánchez’s, because we use them on a daily basis for such harmless activities as fertilising the plants on our balconies and dyeing our hair. But let’s not be fooled: whatever they find, their only concern is to pave the way for social poisoning, a task which the Spanish nationalist media and politicians immediately set about doing. Indeed, within a matter of minutes, news bulletins and politicians spoke openly of bombs, without the existence of an actual bomb or anything of the kind. In fact, at six o’clock in the afternoon, individuals who had been arrested at six o’clock in the morning accused of terrorism were told they were being released while facing charges of … terrorism. Sánchez’s public prosecutor, the man responsible for this insanity, was also responsible for confining CDR member Tamara Carrasco to her hometown for months all because of a mask and a whistle, and also for keeping another CDR activist, Adrià Carrasco, in exile.

It is an attempt to corner the independence movement and quash any show of dissent. It has nothing to do with terrorism. Another chance to put Catalonia’s independence bid on trial, another Altsasu case (2). Another day in Spain’s perverted pseudo-democracy.

In a recent article, Joan Ramon Resina warned —with his usual eloquence— of where this will eventually lead: “A state for which justice does not exist as an idea but as words only, is a state that cannot stand and sooner or later will be toppled”. Yesterday’s response on the streets, with outraged crowds in many towns and cities, is a symptom of what Resina speaks of. The only response to a provocation on this scale is a resolute democratic confrontation, in a demonstration of the people’s will to bring down a Spanish state for which justice no longer exists.

Yesterday was another eye-opener for Catalonia’s independence movement and things became a tad clearer. As shown by the figures and the images from all over: Cerdanyola, Vic, Lleida, Manresa … As shown by the determined response with the old and the young standing resolutely together, once again. As shown by images from Sabadell’s Plaça de Sant Roc, full of people shouting ‘Occupation forces go home!’. It is an incredibly clear statement which —we are well aware— has a long history and graphically illustrates how a large segment of the Catalan population has already walked off.

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Translator’s notes:

(1) CDR: the Committees for the Defence of the Republic make up a network of groups that function on a local, regional and national level in Catalonia and were originally created to defend the 2017 Catalan independence referendum.

(2) The Altsasu incident is a court case against 8 youths from a small town in Navarre, for their involvement in an altercation in which two off-duty Guardia Civil officers sustained minor injuries, resulting in charges of terrorism.